Articles Tagged with New Jersey home improvement contract

The New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act and home improvement practices regulations presented a dilemma – they provide valuable tools protecting homeowners from unscrupulous home improvement contractors by awarding them triple damages and attorneys fees when successful, but risk imposing drastic penalties on legitimate contractors who miss some of their more technical requirements.  However, as the Appellate Division recently explained in the case of Philip Dattolo v. EMC Squared LLC and Edward T. Morgan, the requirement that a homeowner must prove ascertainable damages which result from the consumer fraud violations goes a long way toward resolving this conflict.

Background

The facts of the case are these.  Dattolo contracted with EMC Squared LLC to construct a single-family home in Boonton, New Jersey in October 2018.  EMC was solely owned by Edward Morgan.  In March 2019, EMC offered a list of extras, and Dattolo accepted some.  EMC created a written change order but it was never signed.  In January 2020, Mogan told Dattolo that EMC was unable to continue.  He told Dattolo that the project received final inspections.  He gave Dattolo a final bill with credit for the unfinished work.  Dattolo refused to pay, asserting many construction defects existed which would cause him considerable expense to correct.