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Suit claims contractor bilked consumers for $151,000

Builder says he was fired, tried to make things right

Maureen Sullivan of Aurora says she has done everything she can over the years to keep her daughter home, including plans to build an addition with a bathroom accessible for her wheelchair.

In February 2009, Sullivan hired a contractor to build that addition for $31,000, which included a loan she obtained for around $28,000. But she claims the contractor did little work and never returned.

Now that contractor, Thomas Ratz of St. Charles, and his businesses, Ex-Treme Con-Crete Design Inc. and Excellent Concrete Concept Inc., are being sued by the Illinois attorney general's office. They are accused of defrauding Sullivan and other consumers for as much as $151,000.

Ratz denies any fraud and says it was Sullivan who broke their contract by firing him before he could finish the project.

Sullivan, however, says she is relieved that the attorney general's office is suing.

“I'm finally relieved,” she said. “I've been trying for a long time to get someone to help us. I've called the police and the state's attorney's office and no one would do anything.”

The case, filed Thursday in Cook County Circuit Court, charges Ex-Treme Con-Crete Design Inc. and Excellent Concrete Concept Inc. with violating the state Consumer Fraud Act and Home Repair Fraud Act. Besides Ratz, the suit names Regeina Taylor of North Aurora as director of Ex-Treme Con-Crete and Geneva Saunders of St. Charles, president and director of Excellent Concrete.

The suit alleges they took more than $151,000 from about a dozen consumers since January 2008 by collecting down payments for work that was never completed as promised or just never done.

The suit seeks to stop the companies and its officers from working in the home-repair field in Illinois, restitution for victims and a civil penalty of $50,000, with additional penalties of $50,000 for each violation found to be committed with intent to defraud, as well as $10,000 per violation for victims 65 years and older. The suit also seeks costs for the investigation and prosecution.

“There is no fraud whatsoever,” Ratz responded. “She fired me, flat-out fired me.”

Ratz said that broke their contract before it was ever breached. “She never gave us the opportunity to fix them,” he added. “We were willing to do whatever it took to make her happy. She refused.”

Sullivan, 56, said that her daughter Jennifer Washington, 26, has spina bifida and needs a wheelchair. She also has been recently diagnosed with a disease that paralyzes her intestinal tract. “So she's been near death a few times,” Sullivan said.

Despite these problems, Washington has fought to be independent. She's a part-time student at the College of DuPage and takes a Pace bus to school.

Sullivan claims that when Ratz didn't return to finish the work on the addition, she constantly called him. But she said he was difficult to pin down. When a story about her troubles aired on TV earlier this year, some neighbors got together and helped finish the addition. Sullivan had been unemployed during the construction but recently found another job.

Ratz countered that it was Sullivan who refused to return phone calls and e-mails after she attempted to fire the firm.

Ratz said the incident was investigated by Aurora Police and the DuPage County State's Attorney. “They declined prosecution,” he said, adding that Sullivan tried to sully his reputation by emphasizing he is an ex-convict with a record for earlier and since-renounced gang activity. “I'm happy to be an ex-con. I'm proud to be an ex-con,” he said, pointing to how he drew attention to it in the firm's hyphenated name.

Sullivan is still on the hook for the construction loan at 5 percent interest for 15 years. The loan was through TechConnect, a state home loan program for people with disabilities.

“I've worked my tail off to keep her home all these years and I have,” Sullivan said.

Daily Herald staff writer Ted Cox contributed to this story.