GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The Michigan Department of Attorney General is suing a Rockford business owner and his tree service companies, alleging illegal business practices like misleading customers and “charging grossly excessive prices.”
The AG’s office says in 2022, it began to investigate Michigan’s Choice Tree Service, LLC, which is owned and operated by David Foster. It found evidence that Michigan’s Choice was confusing customers about their rights and misleading them about the agreements they were signing, the costs of the services and their responsibility for the costs insurance didn’t cover, the office said Friday in a release.
According to the lawsuit, filed in Ingham County’s 30th Circuit Court and dated Jan. 3, Foster did not give any cost estimates and led customers to believe he would work with insurers so they would not have to pay anything out of pocket. Then, Michigan’s Choice would allegedly have customers sign contracts holding them liable for any costs that insurance did not cover.
The LLC also demonstrated “a pattern of charging grossly excessive prices,” the release says. The lawsuit alleges Michigan’s Choice charged about $20,500 for a job in Gaylord that took 3.5 hours, and when the insurer would not pay the full cost, Foster allegedly caused a lien to be placed upon the customer’s home.
After looking at the evidence, the AG’s office issued a notice of intended action in February 2023. The office says Foster and Michigan’s Choice entered into an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance the following month, agreeing not to violate the Michigan Consumer Protection Act and to give customers written price quotes before starting work or having them sign contracts.
During the same month, Foster allegedly created Storm Support Emergency Tree Removal, LLC, in the state of Wyoming, according to the Michigan Department of Attorney General. The department says he did not file a certificate to conduct business in Michigan, allegedly violating the Limited Liability Company Act, but “has continued to engage in the same alleged illegal business practices found in the prior investigation into Michigan’s Choice.”
According to the AG’s lawsuit, Foster and Storm Support have used “unlawful contracts and oral representations” and created confusion over customers’ rights. They have also allegedly overcharged customers: The attorney general’s office says Storm Support charged about $23,700 to remove three branches from a roof in Lansing, about $39,500 to remove a tree that fell on a Grand Rapids house and about $26,100 to remove a tree that fell on a Cedar Springs home.
The attorney general’s office says Foster, Storm Support and Michigan’s Choice have until Jan. 25 to respond to the lawsuit or face a default judgment.
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