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(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — Two Columbus contractors who renamed their business multiple times are being sued by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost for performing shoddy driveway resurfacing work, leaving their consumers feeling both dissatisfied and cheated out of money.

“Sadly, the days of hiring a contractor with a handshake are over – consumers need to be aware of contractors like these who change their name to hide shoddy work from the past,” Yost said. “A good contractor will provide a cost estimate, a written contract and references. Don’t give away your hard-earned money to someone who won’t.”

Yost’s lawsuit, filed in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, accuses Peter Ristich and Teneilla Stults of violating both the Consumer Sales Practices Act and the Home Solicitation Sales Act. The action follows on the heels of a similar lawsuit filed this week by Yost against a home-improvement contractor operating in the Toledo area.

Ristich and Stults did business under the name Central One Paving, accepting money from consumers for driveway paving and resurfacing services. But the two performed substandard work, the lawsuit says, and did not correct it.

Further, the contractors violated the Home Solicitation Sales Act by failing to provide proper notice to consumers of the right to cancel their contracts within three days.

Besides Central One Paving, Ristich and Stults also operated under the names Top Seal and Alliance Paving.

In the lawsuit, Yost requests that the defendants be ordered to reimburse consumers and pay civil penalties and court costs.

The Consumer Protection Section of Yost’s office suggests that consumers heed the following advice before signing a contract for home-improvement services:

• Check with the Attorney General’s Office and Better Business Bureau for any complaints against the contractor.
• Make sure your contract includes notice of your right to cancel a door-to-door sale. Contractors generally cannot start working until the three-day “cooling-off” period ends.
• Get written estimates from several contractors before making a final decision.
• Make sure that the written contract includes any oral promises made by the contractor; the project start date and end date; and an itemized list of all significant costs, labor and services.
• Be wary if the contract requires a large down-payment or requires you to write a check directly to the contractor instead of his or her company.
• Check with the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office to confirm that the business is registered properly.