Bellefonte contractor with history of home improvement fraud faces suit from AG’s office

A Bellefonte contractor was sued by the attorney general’s office after he allegedly failed to disclose previous criminal convictions for home improvement fraud, according to a lawsuit filed Friday.

Deputy Attorney General Jill Ambrose said Justin Melanson registered Melanson Designs with the Bureau of Consumer Protection in 2015, but didn’t acknowledge his five previous convictions or two previous civil judgments against him.

Melanson received a letter from the bureau several months later seeking to correct the deficiencies, but he again failed to reveal the information and his registration was deactivated three months later.

The bureau received another application from the business six days after the deactivation, but the application listed Melanson’s wife as the owner. Ambrose said she believes the business did so to circumvent the application requirements.

She also highlighted one occasion where a homeowner paid Melanson $55,000 of a $70,000 renovation project, only to see Melanson not order any materials or complete the project by the agreed-upon deadline.

When the home owner told Melanson he was going to take legal action, Melanson allegedly installed cheaper versions of materials.

Ambrose also said Melanson failed to include a valid home improvement contractor registration number, insurance statement, the phone number for the Bureau of Consumer Protection and various legal notices on at least three contracts.

Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s office is suing Melanson for four various violations of the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act and the Consumer Protection Law.

The office is requesting Melanson be ordered to make full restitution to all customers who have suffered losses due to his alleged fraud, to pay $1,000 for each violation and $3,000 for each violation involving someone older than 60 years old and to pay the cost of the office’s investigation and prosecution.