BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) – A Bowling Green tree removal service is the subject of a lawsuit filed by the Office of the Kentucky Attorney General.
BG Treeman LLC and Benjamin C. Lamb were named in the lawsuit filed on Aug. 15 in Warren County. The company is located at 7324 Nashville Rd. in Bowling Green, according to the filing.
The lawsuit stems from services Lamb’s company provided to people in Warren County following severe weather in December 2021. Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency in response to the weather disaster.
Lamb allegedly charged prices for tree removal services that were grossly in excess of the prices charged prior to any of the emergency declarations, according to the lawsuit. The allegations stem from services provided between Dec. 11, 2021, and April 14, 2022.
The lawsuit goes on to explain how BG Treeman violated state laws relating to prohibitions against “unfair, false misleading, or deceptive” business practices. View the claims here.
False statements about equipment and personnel used, hours worked and the number of trees removed were all listed as evidence for the claim in the lawsuit.
Lamb allegedly told customers he would not charge them for services not covered by insurance providers but later tried to coerce customers to pay for the services when insurance would not pay.
“Defendants even went so far as to send some consumers a document titled ‘Notice Of Intent To File A Lien’ that purported to require the consumers to pay the entire balance of Defendants’ invoice within ‘ten (10) days’ to avoid having a lien placed on their homes and ‘loss of all or part of [their] property, and/or other significant legal consequences,’” the suit said.
Lamb and his company are alleged to have violated the Kentucky Consumer Protection Act and price gouging prohibitions.
The suit is asking the court to award consumers “equitable relief” to correct injuries resulting from the alleged crimes and to require Lamb to pay civil penalties, among other requests.
Matthew J. Baker, Lamb’s attorney, filed a response to the claims on Aug. 18, denying most of the claims. View the response here.
WBKO News sought comment from Baker to no avail as of 2:15 p.m. on Monday.
Copyright 2023 WBKO. All rights reserved.
www.wbko.com
https://www.wbko.com/2023/08/21/bowling-green-tree-removal-service-subject-states-lawsuit/
