Home repair scam company sued by Minnesota AG after posing as fake businesses

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(FOX 9) - Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is taking legal action against an Illinois company accused of tricking homeowners by pretending to be local businesses, then subcontracting other to do shoddy work.

Lawsuit targets alleged home repair deception

What we know:

In a press release, Ellison's office says it has filed a lawsuit against B.E.S.T GDR, LLC, which does business as Premium Home Services, and its owner, Yosef Bernath.

The lawsuit claims the company violated Minnesota consumer protection laws by posing as hundreds of fake local businesses online to win business from Minnesota residents, then subcontracting jobs to unlicensed or unqualified workers. In some cases, customers never received the services they paid for, the lawsuit alleges.

The complaint says Premium Home Services sold subscription services, charged visit fees, and misled customers into thinking they were signing long-term contracts with local businesses, when in reality, the company was simply a middleman.

Throughout the scheme, the lawsuit states that Bernath, as Premium Home Services, bought ads for hundreds of fake businesses linked to Minnesota addresses where no real business existed. The company also purchased local phone numbers to make the deception more convincing, then routing calls to an overseas call center where representatives pretended to be employees of the fake companies. The company also allegedly arranged for fake online reviews to boost the credibility of its fake businesses, the lawsuit says.

What they're saying:

"Premium Home Services has been running an elaborate scheme to deceive, defraud, and ultimately harm Minnesotans, and I’m suing the company and its owner to put an end to that," Ellison said in a statement accompanying the lawsuit announcement. "Premium Home Services knows how much people trust their local businesses and disgracefully posed as countless local businesses online to abuse that trust… the con they ran is one of the oldest in the books: lie to honest people to trick them out of their hard-earned money. That cannot stand, and my team and I are going to hold this company and its owner accountable for the harm they have caused.

What's next:

The lawsuit says it seeks to stop the company’s operations, penalize those involved, and recoup losses incurred by Minnesotans.

The Federal Trade Commission and the Illinois Attorney General are also taking action against Premium Home Services and Yosef Bernath, filing a federal lawsuit in the Northern District of Illinois on the same day as Minnesota’s suit.

However, a total in damages has not been specified yet.