An online listing service of home improvement professionals will pay a nearly $7 million fine as part of the settlement of a false advertising claim, according to an announcement Tuesday by San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins.
HomeAdvisor Inc. and its parent corporation will pay $6.82 million in civil penalties to resolve a false advertising action filed against them.
The complaint alleged that the company made false and misleading claims when it told consumers that “the “professionals” or “pros” engaged through its platform — in other words, the individuals who perform the actual home repairs or improvements — were background-checked and therefore could be trusted to be in or around a consumer’s home.
Jenkins said the company had engaged in inherently deceptive advertising: “Consumers should be able to trust that claims about background checks performed on service professionals, particularly those who go into their homes, are truthful and accurate.”
According to the district attorney’s announcement, “the complaint alleged that despite what it told consumers, with certain minor exceptions, HomeAdvisor actually performed background checks only on independently-owned business entities that wished to join HomeAdvisor’s network and the owners/principals of those business entities.
It did not perform background checks on the various non-owner/principal employees or laborers who might actually perform the work at a consumer’s home.”
Managing Assistant District Attorney Daniel Amador said, “As a result of this lawsuit, HomeAdvisor was forced to stop running its misleading advertisements. We are pleased that HomeAdvisor has corrected its advertising practices and agreed to resolve this action.”
A HomeAdvisor spokesperson issued a statement in response to the settlement.
“The District Attorney produced no evidence of confusion by any California consumer, and the lawsuit concluded with a voluntarily negotiated settlement and no admission of any wrongdoing,” the spokesperson said.
“We stand by our screening and vetting process for business owners and look forward to moving on and focusing on how to best serve the homeowners who rely on us every day to repair, maintain and update their homes.”
The government money grubbers at it again. A small fine and a reprimand would keep a business going. There a number of organizations that recommend businesses. Do you think they qualify everyone that goes out to a job. Does Google qualify a customer before they allow them to place an advertisement? Stick to putting criminals away DA.
Have you ever received a call from India fishing for any home improvement project you might want done? That is because HomeAdvisor offers a bounty to anyone who enters your name and number into their database. Anyone can put your information into their database and no verification is done.
I was able to stop these calls when a contractor called me about a project I never requested. I sued a sister company of HomeAdvisor and won because they violated the Do No Call list. Prior to my successful law suit HomeAdvisor would NOT remove my information from their database. Only after it cost them money did they remove me.