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Pocono News Section
I-Team Update: Contractor Banned From Working
I-Team Update: Contractor Banned From Working - Wednesday, March 26, 2008 at 5:25PM EST
Reported by: Jeff Chirico
Wednesday, Mar 26, 2008 @05:25pm EST
WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY --Now an update to an I-Team story we first brought you more than a year ago. A judge has put a Wilkes-Barre contractor out of business for ripping off innocent homeowners out of more than a hundred thousand dollars. It's a story you'll see only on WBRE News. Consumer reporter Jeff Chirico has been investigating this case since 2006 and joins us now with the breaking developments.
In an order sent down late yesterday, the judge says Joe Burns must get out of the home repair and construction business. That decision comes after the state Attorney General's office took burns to court for breaking consumer protection laws and court orders dating back nearly twenty years.
Leeann Lichtkofski of Hanover Township paid $27,000 for some home remodeling. The contractor left her with a bad roof and shoddy work. Leeann Lichtkofski said in January 2007, "and the thing is I totally trusted the guy."
Robert Coleman of Duryea shelled out $24,000--but the quality of siding and roofing wasn't what he paid for. Robert Coleman said in March, 2007 "he's a thief. He's a con-artist."
And Primitive Methodist Church of Nanticoke paid $20,000 for a roof they never got. Rose Ann Briggs said in March, 2007 "I said to him, please just give us our money back. He said oh that's never going to happen."
They're all talking about Joe Burns, a Wilkes-Barre contractor who’s been barred from working after a Luzerne County judge ruled Burns broke consumer protection laws and court orders. Deputy Attorney General Brian Nixon says “we are very happy with the finding of contempt because it gets Mr. Burns out of the business of home construction and repairs.
This winter, the Attorney General's office took Burns to court but it's not the first time. The AG has been dealing with complaints against Burns for twenty years. Senior Deputy Attorney General JP McGowan says "we believe it’s a repeated pattern on his part of ignoring court orders ...this contempt finding."
Burns didn't answer the door to his Wilkes-Barre home Wednesday but in December he told us he didn't do anything wrong. "everyone who paid me got the work completed."
Last year, Burns declared bankruptcy. The Attorney General's office is now going after Burns in that court to force him to repay his victims. The ruling doesn’t prohibit Burns from doing repairs, remodeling or construction to businesses. And we do know he has done commercial work before. He's worked under several corporations including “Custom Construction Corporation” and “King of Roofs.”
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