Ohio Consumer Law Blog
Information on Ohio's Consumer Laws from Attorney Daniel Myers, Myers Law, LLC, not legal advice
Summit County Family Sues IGS Home Warranty, AAA Flexible Pipe, and Others for “Destruction” of Their Home, Health Problems, and Harm to Their Pet.
Two Summit County parents have recently filed a consumer lawsuit against IGS, a home warranty company, its subcontractors, their insurance agent, and their insurer, Erie Insurance, over what they say is the failure of these companies to do their jobs, causing serious harm to their home, their trust, and their family. John and Jennifer Till have filed a lawsuit in the Summit County Court of Common Pleas, seeking damages they allege were caused by a home warranty company, and by its contractors’ delays and shoddy repair work concerning a leaking water line in their basement and the resulting damage.
The Tills are represented by the consumer protection law firm of Myers Law, LLC, and its attorneys Dan Myers and Samantha Vajskop.
The lawsuit, John Till, et al. v. Interstate Gas Supply, Inc. (Summit County Common Pleas Case No. CV-2018-01-0145), pending before Judge Amy Corrigall Jones, alleges that IGS Energy, IGS Home Warranty, Ernest Fisco, AAA Flexible Pipe, ABC Drain, Erie Insurance, AC Plumbing, and insurance agent Chuck Zavagno, among others, failed to protect the Tills and their children from unnecessary delays in repairs and delays in fixing water damage. The Complaint alleges that the delays allowed mold, including toxic mold, to grow, spread, and cause the “destruction” of the Tills’ home. The Complaint also alleges that the damages to the Tills’ home is in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and their home must now be gutted.
According to the Complaint, “the Till Family trusted, paid, or relied on” these companies to protect them, but “[i]nstead of protecting the Tills . . . these Defendants have put the Tills in a far worse situation than they could have imagined.” The Tills also claim that the warranty company IGS, and subcontractors IGS picked, not only failed to fix their water main and basement, but they never obtained permits or inspections for the work.
In February 2017, the Tills allege that their water main suddenly began to leak into their basement, so they called their home warranty company and their insurance agent. The Complaint says that the agent did not submit a claim for them, and IGS Home Warranty sent out three different subcontractors, one after the other, resulting in numerous delays, additional leaks, and incomplete work. This delay and failure caused substantial damage, including “the growth of mold and fungus” in the home, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in harm; according to the Complaint, this harm includes the need to gut the interior of the home.
The Tills claim that IGS and its subcontractors, in addition to failing to obtain permits or inspections from Summit County, left wet materials in the home that they had promised the Tills they would remove and replace. The Tills are now worried that the black mold they found in their home was allowed to spread because of this. They worry that toxic mold could have caused them and their children to suffer the health problems they have been enduring.
Because of the delays and construction debris left in their home by AAA Flexible Pipe, the Tills claim that one of their dogs, Halen, who was close to qualifying as a Champion in her breed, suffered a torn ligament, requiring treatment and surgery.
The Tills’ attorney, Dan Myers, says, “What the Tills are experiencing is tragic and horrifying. As a parent, I know how important it is to provide for your family, and keep them safe. It’s scary to imagine having no control over it, being let down time after time by the people you trusted and relied on to help you. That you are powerless to keep your home or family safe.”
The Tills state in their Complaint that they need to move out of their home to allow for necessary mold remediation and repairs to occur, but that because of the delays of their own insurance company, Erie Insurance, and the costs they’ve paid out of pocket as a result of the other Defendants, they simply have not been able to “afford to move themselves from their toxic home.” “The Tills have spent many thousands of dollars on testing, remediation, cleaning, and even temporarily relocated into an RV they rented,” said Myers. “Most families would be totally tapped-out at this point.” Myers said the Tills are trying to move into a temporary shelter so work can continue.
After the Tills made their problems with the work, and with IGS Home Warranty, public on their social media account, the Complaint alleges that IGS Home Warranty refused to complete or correct the situation unless the Tills agreed to waive their rights under Ohio and Summit County consumer protection laws, and also agreed to keep the problems secret.
In addition to the economic damages the Tills are seeking, the Complaint alleges that IGS and its subcontractors, some of whom they paid directly, all violated consumer protection laws on the books in the State of Ohio and Summit County. Because of those alleged violations, the Tills have asked in their Complaint that Judge Corrigall Jones declare that what IGS and its subcontractors did is unfair and deceptive conduct under the consumer laws, and issue an injunction to protect other Ohioans from this same “nightmarish” experience.
Not all parties have responded to the lawsuit at this point, and the Tills are waiting for all defendants to file their answers. Once that happens, the Court will set a date when the parties and their counsel will get together to determine dates and deadlines for the matter to move forward.
As of the date of this release, only Defendants Erie Insurance, AAA Flexible Pipe Cleaning Corporation, and Ernest Fisco had filed their Answers. AAA Flexible Pipe has denied everything said by the Tills in their Complaint, even going so far as to deny that it was a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Ohio that conducts business out of Cuyahoga County. The Ohio Secretary of State and Summit County records show that AAA Flexible Pipe is in fact corporation organized under the laws of the State of Ohio, with a business location in Cuyahoga County. Erie Insurance has also filed a cross-claim, seeking recovery from the other Defendants.
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A copy of the Complaint can be found by doing a Records Search at https://clerkweb.summitoh.net/ and typing in the case number or parties’ names.
For further questions, or to contact the Tills or their attorney, contact Daniel J. Myers, (216) 236-8202, or via email at info@myerslawllc.com.
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