Politics & Government

Lawsuit: Homeowners Demand Money Back from Home Improvement Company

An Oak Forest man is named as a principal in the company targeted by a lawsuit from the Illinois Attorney General.

An Oak Forest man is named in a lawsuit filed by Attorney General Lisa Madigan alleging a south suburban home improvement supply company failed to pay back Cook County homeowners for orders never fulfilled.

The suit against Family Security Doors & Windows Inc. of Alsip names principals Robert E. Starr, of Worth, his brother Michael Starr, of Chicago, Thomas J. Abbott, of Chicago, and Gordon Jackson, of Oak Forest.

A message left at an Oak Forest phone number for Jackson was not immediately returned Wednesday.

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Family Security had made, sold and installed fixtures for homes since 1989, according to the office of the Attorney General. The suit claims that the company took $90,000 in down payments for work through the summer of last year even though the company was struggling to fill previous order.

By the time Family Security closed in September 2011, it had accepted more than $90,000 from 150 consumers, according to the office of the Attorney General.

Find out what's happening in Oak Forestwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“While the company’s operators were actively preparing to shut down, they continued to take customers’ down payments even though it was evident that the company couldn’t fulfill the orders already on its books,” Madigan said in a news release. “Now hundreds of consumers who’d been waiting months for their orders are out thousands of dollars for nothing in return.”

The lawsuit seeks refunds for those customers, civil damages and asks the court to ban the defendants from owning or operating a home repair business in the state.


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