An elderly Lake County woman was quoted $40,000 to remove two storm-damaged trees from her property, then watched the price get slashed to $35,000 after she pushed back — money that, she says, would have wiped out her retirement. That case is now part of four lawsuits Indiana's Attorney General filed against contractors accused of preying on storm victims across the state.
The Indiana Attorney General's Office launched the lawsuits targeting contractors accused of taking advantage of severe storm victims, according to WISH-TV. The lawsuits name Shade Tree Service Co., Storm Support Emergency Tree Removal, Timbercut Tree Experts, and Garrison McKinney Tree and Bridge Services, along with individual contractor David Foster, according to WIBC. Attorney General Todd Rokita did not mince words about the alleged conduct. “It is reprehensible, what these people are doing,” he said, per the same WISH-TV report.
The lawsuits stem from an August 11 derecho that generated 99 mph wind gusts and triggered widespread flooding across Indiana, knocking out power to more than 300,000 utility customers, according to Electric Choice. The storm's aftermath prompted a statewide declared disaster emergency, the report notes, creating the exact conditions Rokita says predatory contractors exploited. “When you're at your lowest emotionally, and you're weary, that's when the bad guys will be bad guys,” Rokita said.
An $40,000 Quote, Cut to $35,000 — But Still Devastating
Corinne Gilchrist, the Attorney General's Office chief of consumer litigation, described the case of an elderly Lake County woman who was initially quoted $40,000 by Garrison McKinney Tree and Bridge Services to remove two trees. Gilchrist said the woman felt pressured to act quickly and pay because of high-pressure warnings about risks to neighbors and others at a nearby park. When the woman balked, the price dropped — but not by enough. “She explained that this would wipe out her retirement. And he cut that price down to $35,000,” Gilchrist said. The state also claims Garrison McKinney made people sign contracts that omitted key consumer protections.
Other companies named in the lawsuits face similarly serious accusations. Storm Support Emergency Tree Removal is accused of working without the required license, failing to disclose estimates or rates, and charging thousands of dollars more than consumers expected. Investigators say they identified five potential victims stretching from northern Indiana to Indianapolis who hired that company. Timbercut Tree Experts and Shade Tree Service Co. are each accused of performing tree removal work without a proper license.
Legal Grounds for the Crackdown
The lawsuits seek civil penalties of up to $5,000 for each documented infraction, along with restitution and injunctive relief, according to the WISH-TV report. The legal actions draw on Indiana's Home Improvement Contracts Act, which requires any residential repair agreement exceeding $150 to be executed in writing with specific disclosures, including start and completion dates and contractor contact information, according to The Hamilton County Reporter. State law also gives homeowners an unconditional right to cancel a home improvement contract within three business days without penalty — a right contractors cannot legally demand consumers waive, the outlet reports.
Indiana law also strictly prohibits home improvement contractors from promising to pay, absorb, or rebate any portion of a homeowner's insurance deductible, and bars them from acting as public adjusters during insurance claim negotiations, per the same report. The Attorney General's Office is not ruling out criminal referrals. Rokita is considering handing findings to prosecutors for potential criminal charges, and the office says civil investigative demands — essentially subpoenas — have also gone out against an additional contractor and a hotel, the latter under investigation for allegedly raising room rates during the declared emergency. That additional contractor is suspected of operating without a proper license and charging excessive prices.
Local Officials Helped Build the Cases
Rokita publicly credited municipal leaders in the Town of Griffith — including Town Council President Rick Ryfa, Police Chief Albert Tharp, and Building Commissioner Veronica Horka — with providing vital local assistance that helped state investigators build several of the cases, according to a statement posted to the Attorney General's official Facebook page. The office's outreach team knocked on more than 750 doors and visited more than 40 communities hit by severe weather, per WISH-TV, gathering the tips that led to Wednesday's filings.
The scale of the damage helps explain why the state is casting such a wide net. Governor Mike Braun's Major Disaster Declaration submission to FEMA in late August covered 54 storm-damaged Indiana counties where severe weather displaced more than 1,000 families and damaged or destroyed more than 1,700 structures, according to Ground News. Following Braun's disaster emergency declaration, the state made assistance available to storm victims, including up to $5,000 in emergency aid grants per resident from the State Disaster Relief Fund and temporary housing grants through the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, per The Hamilton County Reporter.
A Pattern of Warnings Before the Lawsuits
Two weeks before filing the lawsuits, the Attorney General's Office issued an August 17 consumer alert warning that door-to-door scammers were soliciting disaster victims in towns like Griffith using false claims that “FEMA will pay for all of this,” according to a release from the State of Indiana Office of the Attorney General. Rokita has said the scope of the problem is not limited to any one region. “The potential is everywhere in the state. We were hit real hard,” he said, describing the lawsuits as just a beginning and adding that his goal is to “chase them out of the state.”
This is not the first time Rokita's office has pursued contractors accused of deceptive practices. Indiana filed a similar civil suit against a Greenwood pool builder in June, accusing that contractor of taking $1.7 million from 25 homeowners for unfinished or damaging work under the state's Deceptive Consumer Sales Act. The Attorney General's Office says it may pursue further enforcement as it continues vetting additional complaints tied to the August storms. Indiana residents who believe they've been targeted by a storm-repair scam can contact the Attorney General's consumer protection division online or at 1-800-382-5516.
