Taney County Circuit Judge Mark Orr has entered a permanent injunction and consent decree against Texas-based Heartwood Log Homes Inc. and its past president, Gary Myers, according to a news release from Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster's office.
Heartwood’s legal issues date back several years. The attorney general’s office began seeking restitution for consumers in 2007, when Gov. Jay Nixon was serving as attorney general. A news release issued at that time noted that since at least April 2002, Heartwood had engaged in the advertisement and sale of log home construction services, and between 2002–07, the attorney general’s office had received at least nine complaints from customers who paid the company for construction but received insufficient construction materials, numerous construction errors and unfinished work several months past the agreed-on date when the homes were scheduled to be completed. The monetary loss per victim ranged between $70,000 and $140,000, the release said.
With the permanent injunction and consent decree, the company and Myers are jointly required to pay more than $445,000 in restitution to four consumers, according to the Feb. 23 release from Koster’s office. If Myers or the company violate the order, they will have to pay an additional $10,000 in civil penalties and $15,0000 for investigative and enforcement costs.
Under the order, Heartwood and Myers also are prohibited from:
- Representing to consumers that money paid by them will be used for specific purposes if it will not be used for those purposes;
- Representing to consumers that construction materials ordered by a consumer are in the possession of Heartwood and Myers when they are not; and
- Representing that a consumer’s home was built in accordance with specific plans and specifications when it was not.
“A home is one of the most important investments anyone will make in his or her life,” Koster said in the release. “Heartwood Log Homes and Gary Myers promised what they knew they would not deliver, and it is time for them to return these consumers’ money.”[[In-content Ad]]
