Jury Convicts Huntingdon Valley Home Contractor Of Theft By Deception And Unfair Business Practices
The business self help books that you find for sale in airport convenience stores and at FedEx Office tell you to under-promise and over-deliver. In many industries, your ability to meet a deadline depends on factors beyond your control. One small glitch in the supply chain or workflow can set your whole project behind schedule. Business school students take courses with names like “Organizational Behavior” where one of the things you learn is to be charming and tactful by telling a client that you must postpone your fulfillment of a promise yet again. In most cases, business can still go on as long as you are honest and as long as you provide information that the client requests. Accepting payment from a client and then failing to meet the originally agreed upon deadline is one thing, but accepting payment from a client and then disappearing is another. You can get charged with theft by deception if you do not perform the services you have been hired to perform after a customer gives you a full or partial payment. If you are being accused of ghosting a customer who paid you in advance for your work, contact a Pittsburgh white collar crime lawyer.
Legal Consequences of Dishonest Business Practices
News headlines about home contractor fraud appear frequently in Pennsylvania, when contractors collect payment from customers and then disappear, leaving behind unfinished renovations. The consequences of lying to a customer about a home contracting project depend on the nature of the lie. If you simply inflated the costs, the customer may just leave negative reviews or complain to the Better Business Bureau, or the customer might sue you in civil court to refund the costs that were unjustifiable. Criminal charges usually only result when you fail to complete a project and do not refund any money that the customer has paid you for work that you have not yet done.
In the News
In 2019 and the years preceding it, Joseph Eibell of Huntingdon Valley promised to do more home renovation projects than he actually completed. Four customers complained to police about projects that Eibell had failed to complete, and by the end of their investigation, police had found five other customers with whom Eibell had allegedly followed a similar pattern. Eibell was charged with unfair business practices and theft by deception, for allegedly defrauding the customers, who lived in Bucks, Montgomery, and Philadelphia Counties, out of more than $100,000. In October 2023, he was convicted at trial. News sources did not publish any additional reports about his sentencing, but the charges are punishable by imprisonment.
Contact Gary E. Gerson About Criminal Defense Cases
A criminal defense lawyer can help you if you are facing charges for unfair business practices, theft by deception, or other offenses arising from a business dispute with a customer. Contact the law offices of Gary E. Gerson in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania about your case.
Source:
patch.com/pennsylvania/warminster/contractor-scammed-homeowners-bucks-montco-counties-da
