Teaneck Contractor Fined $1 Million, Permanently Banned For Hundreds Of State Violations: Attorney General

TEANECK, N.J. — An unregistered home improvement contractor must pay $1.1 million in fines and is permanently barred from performing home improvement work in New Jersey after a Superior Court judge determined he committed 410 violations of state law for taking money from elderly customers and not completing the work, among other accusations, said Acting Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino.

Leroy N. Brown, an unregistered home improvement contractor, who had business addresses in Teaneck and New York state, misrepresented himself as a registered contractor and deceived elderly customers to get them to pay him for work he never complete, Porrino said.

Brown, who did business as B&K Masonry & Chimney, has 10 days to pay the $1,025,000 in civil penalties. He must also must reimburse the Division of Consumer Affairs $82,000 in attorneys' fees, and reimburse 11 consumers more than $16,000.

At least one family had to evacuate their home because of high levels of carbon dioxide following chimney liner work Brown performed there, Porrino said.

“We will not tolerate home improvement contractors like Leroy Brown who cheat our citizens, particularly when the target is our elderly population,” Porrino said in press release. “The civil penalty ordered by the court should serve as a warning to contractors that violating our consumer protection laws will result in serious consequences.”

According to an eight-count indictment filed last December in Essex County Superior Court, Brown told customers that there were "imminent health and safety risks" that needed to be corrected in order for customers to have their chimneys repaired.

“The division has ensured he will never again be able to prey on New Jersey consumers,” Steve Lee, director of the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, said in the release. “We will continue to serve as watchdogs of the home improvement marketplace to safeguard consumers from contractors who make their money through lies and deceit.”

According to the state's complaint, Brown lied on the phone and on the B&K website that he was a licensed and registered contractor and that "all work" was guaranteed. He also made unsolicited calls to elderly residents, offering his services at a discount.

Brown also had a B&K representative say he was a government inspector who told a woman that if she did not have a chimney replaced, she could not use her furnace, and that if she did not use the furnace, she could be fined, officials said in the complaint.

The Bergen County Office of Consumer Affairs referred consumer complaints to the Division for its use in investigating this matter.

Consumers who believe they have been cheated or scammed by a business, or suspect any other form of consumer abuse, can file an online complaint with the State Division of Consumer Affairs on its website or by calling 973-504- 6200.

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