COVINGTON — Wade Hall Jr. was released last week after a year in the Kenton County jail, and if he so much as touches a job estimate form or offers a price to build a masonry wall, it's back for 20 years of hard time.

Corrine Darnell of Newport displays a contract she had with Wade Hall Jr. to build a wall. The wall behind her was built by another contractor. (Patrick Reddy photo) | ZOOM |

        Mr. Hall, 36, of Walton, is a rare case of a man serving jail time for home-improvement schemes. Prosecutors who convicted him on five felony counts, including four counts of theft, say that the disarming man bilked probably hundreds of unsuspecting Tristate homeowners out of tens of thousands of dollars.

        “I personally could have a full-time job for one year prosecuting Wade Hall Jr., and a judge could spend a year hearing the cases,” says Michael Folk, a Kenton County prosecutor who helped broker the plea agreement that put Mr. Hall in jail.

        Prosecutors consider him one of the Tristate's most prolific home-improvement con artists. The myriad complaints date back to 1995.

        In coming months, prosecutors expect to bring more charges from among scores of complaints, which span suburbs on both sides of the Ohio River.

        Those new charges are part of the stiffest plea agreement that prosecutor Mr. Folk has ever seen, one that also stipulates 20 years in prison for Mr. Hall if he attempts to do any further home-improvement contracting.

        Problems with home-improvement jobs consistently rank among the top 10 consumer complaints in both Ohio and Kentucky. Ohio's attorney general received 1,500 complaints last year, making home improvements the third most common consumer gripe. Kentucky ranks home-improvement complaints sixth.

        Mr. Hall pleaded guilty May 20 to five felonies related to home-improvement jobs in Kenton County.

        Police were able to make four distinct felony cases from among the hundreds of complaints against Mr. Hall. In doing so, they took the civil matter of a business dispute between customer and client to a criminal matter — theft.

HOME IMPROVEMENT HELP

Check out a home-improvement company or file a complaint by calling the Better Business Bureau or your state's attorney general.    The Better Business Bureau of Greater Cincinnati: (513) 421-3015 or (800) 471-3015, web site    Kentucky Attorney General Consumer Protection Division: (502) 696-5389; Consumer Hot Line: (888) 432-9257    Ohio Attorney General: Consumer Hot Line: (800) 282-0515; web site    Indiana Attorney General: Consumer Complaints (800) 382-5516; web site Tips on hiring home improvement contractors     • The Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana attorneys general and the Better Business Bureau (BBB) have several recommendations on how to avoid scams.     • Deal only with reputable, established companies. Ask friends and neighbors for recommendations. Be wary of anyone coming to your door unannounced trying to sell a service.     • Get written estimates from at least three different contractors. Make sure all costs are covered in the estimate, including the down payment, finance charges, building permits fees, installation costs and all materials.     • Get a clear statement of the total cost and terms of payment for material and labor. Consumers should be very wary of making sizable deposits or advance payments to the contractor. Set up a payment schedule based upon the percentage of work completed, with final payment made only after all work has been completed to your satisfaction. Typically a down payment of one-third of the total contract price is made before work starts, according to the BBB.     • Request names of past customers and contact them to find out if they were satisfied.     • Never select contractors who have not come to your home to assess the job.     • Ask questions about what methods or material will be used, when work will begin, how long before the job is completed and what method of payment is required.     • Insist on getting a written, detailed contract.     • Don't let a persuasive seller push you into signing a contract on the spot until you have received several estimates and are completely sure of the contract terms.     • You may be asked to sign documents other than the contract. Read these papers thoroughly so you know exactly what you are signing. Top 10 Ohio consumer complaints 2001    1. Multilevel Marketing (recruiting members, not true sales)    2. Auto (new and used sale, repairs, leasing, lemons    3. Telemarketing (sales pitches to people at home)    4. Home improvement (roofing, siding and additions)    5. Collection matters/credit (debt collection practices/credit cards)    6. Electronics (sales and service of TVs, VCRs, computers)    7. Prizes (Direct mail, sweepstakes, contests)    8. Personal Services (alterations, florists, dating services)    9. Fuel (residential property fuel and vehicle fuel)    10. Publications (magazines, books, newspapers, CDs)    Top 10 Kentucky Consumer Complaints 2001    1. Telephone    2. Used-car sales    3. Credit-card companies    4. Other financial    5. Internet sales, trading, etc. 6. Home improvements    7. Collection agencies    8. New-car sales    9. Mail order    10. Mortgage companies    Source: Attorney General Betty W. Montgomery's office (OH);Attorney General Ben Chandler's office (KY)

        In November 2000, Mr. Hall took $5,450 from an Edgewood woman to do work on her home. Much of the work was not performed and the work that was done had to be replaced.

        In May 1999, he took $550 from a Fort Wright woman and never did any of the work. He did refund $100 to her, but still owes $450.

        In March of 2001, he took $3,800 from a Latonia woman to do masonry work on her chimney. It was never done. In another, he took $1,900 from a Lakeside Park woman.

        But law enforcement officials believe those cases are just a handful of the unsatisfied customers Mr. Hall has left behind.

        They say the clean-cut, well-spoken Mr. Hall chose unsuspecting targets from middle-aged men to seniors to young newlyweds in Greater Cincinnati's upscale communities.

        His system, law officers say, was to entice business through the Yellow Pages and weekly newspaper advertisements, then take 50 percent of payment up front and never complete the job.

        Mr. Hall has complaints on file against him in the Better Business Bureau and the Attorney General's office, but not nearly as many as there are filed locally.

        So numerous are the complaints in his office that Mr. Folk has moved a whole file organizer of grievances next to his desk for easy access.

National increase

        The increase in the Tristate — and the extreme example of Mr. Hall — can also be seen in national statistics.

        In 1999, home-improvement schemes for the first time topped the Annual Consumer Complaint survey conducted by the National Association of Consumer Agency Administrators and the Consumer Federation of America.

        The survey polled 49 consumer-oriented government agencies nationwide. The increase in “Home Improvement”complaints pushed “Auto Repair,” which had been in the top 3 complaints since the survey's inception, down to No. 4.

        Most complaints are for work not done, work not completed and for poor workmanship or materials substitution.

        Sometimes scammers known as “storm chasers” come in waves after severe weather that has damaged roofs or basements. This pattern is especially seen in Butler, Warren and Clermont counties, which have suffered in recent years from heavy tornado and flood damage.

        Hiring contractors to perform home improvements is a relatively new phenomenon. It's in more demand for social reasons, just as the number of professionals who are legitimately able to do it is declining.

        Most people used to fix their own houses or just live in a house as it was built until they sold it or died in it. A new wall or deck for the outdoor spa or a new kitchen island weren't things average people considered.

        The affluence of the 1990s, the national consumer organization says, brought more disposable income for home improvement.

        Changing social patterns also brought more intense career demands on couples who both work, more households headed by women and a strong “new construction” home market to the Tristate. Now, in addition to a good mechanic and a good dry cleaner, people need a good contractor.

        Despite the trend towards do-it-yourself rehabbing shown on a variety of home-oriented television programs, most people don't have the time or the ability to improve their own homes, but the resale market requires that even older homes have the newest amenities to attract buyers.

        Legitimate home-improvement contractors are in high demand., yet the industry faces a major labor shortage because so many workers are turning away from manual labor.

        The situation is so dire that national carpentry and electricians' organizations have begun campaigns to recruit people into these once-popular blue-collar fields.

        This demand for improved homes combined with a sellers' market for the work opens the door for people like Wade Hall Jr., who can exploit a homeowner who wants the work done without waiting weeks or months.

System criticized

        Trooper Michael Steward, a 31-year veteran of the Kentucky State Police, has investigated many of the complaints against Mr. Hall. He says the scheme was perpetuated because no one stopped Mr. Hall early on.

Wade Hall Jr. attempts to hide his face from cameras as he arrives for a hearing at Campbell County District Court recently. (Patrick Reddy photo) | ZOOM |

        Former prosecutors in Northern Kentucky wanted to treat Mr. Hall's crimes as a civil matter in 1998, the trooper says. But Mr. Hall prevented victims from collecting their losses by filing for bankruptcy.

        “The system isn't protecting the public as much as the criminal,” Trooper Steward says. “We are not doing a very good job at protecting our elderly or children, for that matter.”

A lesson learned

        Maurice Rowley has followed the Wade Hall Jr. case closely. The 48-year-old Union man figures the $2,000 he paid Mr. Hall is gone for good, and he's writing it off as the price of a hard lesson learned.

        In April 1998, Mr. Rowley wanted a patio built so he could install a hot tub, and he wanted a 25-foot-long decorative wall to surround it.

        Most stonemasons he contacted didn't want to do such a small job, Mr. Rowley says. The contractors who did come out to give estimates said it would be months before they could get to the work.

        Mr. Rowley then looked in a weekly newspaper, where he'd seen an ad running week after week. The ad was for “Old Time Masonry - For Old Fashion Quality at Rock Bottom Prices.”

        It led him to Mr. Hall.

        Mr. Hall came out to estimate the job and showed Mr. Rowley a photo album full of stone walls he had built. There was nothing hard-sell about him, Mr. Rowley says.

        Mr. Hall's estimate, presented on a typeset estimate form, wasn't the lowest Mr. Rowley got. But Mr. Hall was so eager to do the work, and said he could do it quickly, that Mr. Rowley hired him and wrote him a check for half of the job in advance.

        Mr. Rowley never saw Mr. Hall again, despite repeated calls to a disconnected phone number and letters sent to P.O. boxes.

        “I'm not ashamed to admit I got scammed,” Mr. Rowley says. “I was impatient. I was having trouble finding someone willing to bid on the relatively small job.”

        Mr. Rowley's case is no longer being pursued by Boone County prosecutors. However, Mr. Hall admits in the bankruptcy filings from 1998 that he owes Mr. Rowley the $2,000.

        Mr. Hall also acknowledges that he owes at least 72 others nearly $120,000 - money he says he can't pay back because he is bankrupt. He owes money not only to consumers, but weekly newspapers, the phone company, an office-supply store and lawyers, the court papers show.

        A Fort Thomas woman is owed $1,920 she put down in May 1998. A Covington woman is owed $1,800 from a 1996 job, an Edgewood man $3,700 from another 1996 job.

        He owes a Loveland woman $1,000 she gave him in 1997, and a Miamitown woman is owed $325 for work that was never completed in 1998.

        A woman in Cold Spring put down $5,000 in 1998, and a Park Hills man put down $1,500. Residents of Ludlow, Florence, Lakeside Park and Villa Hills are listed, all claiming contract deposits ranging from $500 to $5,500. So are residents of Bellevue, Walton, Newport, Taylor Mill, Erlanger and Crestview Hills. “I know it looks bad,” Mr. Hall said in a jailhouse interview. “But at no time did I take money with the intention of never doing the work.”

        He says he has successfully completed hundreds of jobs since the 1980s, and got into trouble only when he contracted for too many jobs and hired unreliable labor.

        He says the problem became worse when he was arrested in August 2001 because he couldn't complete the work while sitting in jail.

        Mr. Hall also contends the charges are a civil - not criminal - matter. He says the case ended up in criminal court because a detective with the Kenton County attorney's office didn't like some home-improvement work he did for the man's parents.

        Mr. Hall says he knew he was headed for trouble when Kenton County District Judge Douglas Grothaus, who was then a prosecutor, called him on the detective's behalf and asked for a partial refund.

        “He threatened to cause me a lot of trouble,” Mr. Hall says. “I think this (jail time and stiff plea agreement) was payback.”

        “His record speaks for itself, and I do not recall the incident he talks about,” said Judge Grothaus. “Look at his criminal history, the number of people who have filed complaints against him. I feel my sentence was appropriate considering the facts surrounding Mr. Hall's conduct.”

        Under his plea agreement, Mr. Hall was sentenced to 20 years in prison but was released after serving about one year in the county jail.

        Now, he'll spend five years on probation, during which time he must engage in legitimate work and pay up to $60,000 to the five homeowners he was convicted of defrauding.

        If he doesn't repay the money, he can be sent back to prison to serve the remaining 20 years. Mr. Hall says he'll try to make restitution but it won't be easy.

        “I'm a hard worker,” he said. “I know how to make a living and I will honor my word. I have worked since I was a teen.”

        Prosecutors from Kenton, Boone and Campbell counties, meanwhile, met to discuss how to prosecute other pending charges against Mr. Hall, but no agreement was reached.

        Mr. Hall's case shows how difficult it is to get restitution or satisfaction after a scam. The cases are rarely taken to the criminal level, as finally happened with Mr. Hall.

Embarrassed victims

        Most home-improvement fraud cases never get started because consumers are too embarrassed to admit they've been cheated. When they are brought to the attention of authorities, they are usually referred to civil courts to pursue repayment. This is what happened with Mr. Rowley's case in Union and the nearly 100 creditors who tried to get their money from Mr. Hall in 1998.

        It takes a serious effort on the part of law enforcement to transfer these traditionally civil business-oriented claims to the criminal courts.

        Jocile Ehrlich, president of the Better Business Bureau in Cincinnati, says Mr. Hall's case should be a warning to anyone contemplating a home-improvement project.

        If all else fails, Ms. Ehrlich says consumers should not hesitate to report problems to the Better Business Bureau.

        Trooper Seward says, for instance, that he interviewed one woman who said she hired Mr. Hall only after a check turned up no complaints with the bureau.

        “If people had reported all these complaints about Mr. Hall to the Better Business Bureau, maybe we could have saved a lot of people some heartache,” Ms. Ehrlich says.

        “It is important people not feel ashamed or embarrassed to the point they don't report a crime.”

Former FOP president steps easily back to beat
Neighbors oppose rezoning request
Unwary homeowners left in a fix
Children dealing with wreck's toll
Actually, it really is the heat...
Bus ads blasted by Luken
Eatery unable to hog valet
Tristate A.M. Report
HOWARD: Some Good News
Analyst: Voters back school renovations
Famous or forgotten, they live on in historian's book
Hospital helper dispenses cheer
Preservation and progress often at odds as cities expand
Nearly a year later, grief lingers from tractor explosion
Ky. catfish farmers face competition
'Sermon stealing' making its way into pulpits
Smokers' habits near kids gauged