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INGHAM COUNTY, MI – A West Michigan business owner and his company are being sued for alleged illegal business practices, including overcharging customers for services.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed a lawsuit this week against Rockford business owner David Foster and his limited liability companies, Michigan’s Choice Tree Service and Storm Support Emergency Tree Removal.
Nessel’s office first launched an investigation into Michigan’s Choice Tree Service in 2022, accusing the LLC of confusing consumers about their legal rights and misleading consumers about the nature of the contracts they were signing. I learned that
The attorney general also said the LLC was deceptive about the cost of services provided and the customer’s liability for costs not paid by the insurance company.
Mr. Nessel’s office then issued notices of intentional action to Foster and Michigan’s Choice in February 2023, and the parties agreed to enter into voluntary compliance undertakings the following month. This means that before starting a project or asking a consumer to sign a contract, Michigan’s Choice provides the consumer with a written price quote and agrees not to violate the Michigan Consumer Protection Act. .
That same month, Mr. Foster established Storm Support Emergency Tree Removal as an LLC in Wyoming and engaged in similar illegal business practices, even though he had not filed any legal documents to do business in Michigan. He is said to have continued to engage in the alleged acts. In a preliminary survey for Michigan’s Choice.
Attempts Saturday to secure comment from Mr. Foster were unsuccessful. A man who answered the phone number listed for Michigan’s Choice said he did not have a statement and hung up.
The lawsuit alleges that Foster and Storm Support Emergency Tree Removal employ illegal written contracts and oral representations that violate consumer law by preventing customers from retaining or accessing the contracts after they are signed. They argue that confusion over legal rights is likely to continue.
Mr. Nessel’s office also claimed that the amount that Foster and Storm Support charges its customers significantly exceeds what similar services are generally sold for.
The alleged incidents include:
⋅ $23,718 to remove three tree branches from a Lansing rooftop.
⋅ $39,474 to remove a tree that fell on a home in Grand Rapids.
⋅ $26,094 to remove a tree that fell on a home in Cedar Springs.
The lawsuit also alleges that Foster & Storm Support failed to file a certificate of title required for companies formed under the laws of other states to do business in Michigan. It alleges that the company violated the Liable Companies Act.
“The pattern we’re seeing here is extremely stressful and harmful to consumers in a dire emergency. I refuse to stand by while people are taken advantage of in a vulnerable situation,” Nessel said. said.
Foster and LLC have until Jan. 25 to respond to the lawsuit or face a default judgment that grants each element of the injunctive relief sought at the court’s discretion.
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