(RALEIGH) Attorney General Josh Stein today filed a lawsuit against Dennis Daugherty, his Illinois-based company Green Lantern Services, and his North Carolina company Green Lantern Roofing and Restoration for defrauding North Carolinians who were attempting to repair storm damage after Hurricane Florence in 2018.
“Dennis Daugherty saw North Carolinians struggling to rebuild their homes after Hurricane Florence as an opportunity to make a quick buck, we allege in our complaint,” said Attorney General Josh Stein. “When businesses trick their customers, I’ll take them to court.”
The lawsuit alleges that Daugherty came to coastal North Carolina after Hurricane Florence hit and went door to door falsely claiming to be a licensed contractor. He also claimed that he had dozens of employees available to repair homes, but demanded advance payments – often from the insurance proceeds that customers received after they submitted an insurance claim. The defendants urged customers to sign a contract requiring them to sign over their insurance check. After the contract was signed, the defendants deceived consumers by doing minimal and shoddy work, failing to pay subcontractors, stringing consumers along with false promises to complete the work, and, ultimately, abandoning the projects without refunding the substantial sums received from consumers.
Because customers had already signed over their insurance payments, they were unable to get additional relief from the insurance companies to complete the repairs and were forced to pay out of their own pockets. NCDOJ’s Consumer Protection Division received nine complaints from customers who paid a total of more than $250,000 to the defendants.
Attorney General Stein is asking the court to issue a preliminary injunction against the defendants to prevent them from doing business in North Carolina as this lawsuit continues. He is also seeking restitution, injunctive relief, civil penalties, and attorney fees.
A copy of the complaint is available here.
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