(COLUMBUS, Ohio)—Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine today announced a lawsuit against a now-defunct Columbus funeral home for failing to provide refunds for the pre-need services it sold consumers before it closed.
The lawsuit accuses McNabb Funeral Home and its owner Ronald McNabb of violating Ohio’s Consumer Sales Practices.
“We’re concerned there could be dozens of consumers who paid in advance for funeral services that McNabb will be unable to provide,” Attorney General DeWine said. “Our goal is to secure refunds for those consumers or to transfer their accounts to an operating funeral home.”
McNabb Funeral Home, which operated on East Long Street and on Parsons Avenue in Columbus, sold pre-need contracts for funeral services before closing in 2013 or early 2014, according to the Attorney General’s lawsuit. (Pre-need contracts are accounts consumers purchase prior to death for services the funeral home is obligated to provide at the time of death.)
When a funeral home closes, it is required by state law to provide a report of its pre-need accounts to the Ohio Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors. McNabb eventually provided a handwritten list of 69 names, but did not provide any information about what the business would do with the accounts.
The Ohio Attorney General’s Office subpoenaed McNabb for further information about its pre-need accounts, but to date, McNabb has not responded. McNabb’s funeral licenses also have lapsed.
The Attorney General’s lawsuit, filed in the Franklin County Common Pleas Court, accuses McNabb of failing to refund consumers after it became impossible for the business to provide promised services. The lawsuit seeks relief for consumers, an injunction to stop further violations of Ohio’s Consumer Sales Practices Act, and civil penalties.
Consumers who have unfulfilled pre-need contracts with McNabb Funeral Home should contact the Ohio Attorney General’s Office at www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov or 800-282-0515.
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Documents
Lawsuit (PDF)
Media Contacts
Dan Tierney: 614-466-3840
Kate Hanson: 614-466-3840