May 12, 2010
Office of The Attorney General
– Paula T. Dow, Attorney General
Division of Consumer Affairs
– Sharon Joyce, Acting Director
Media Inquiries-
Jeff Lamm
973-504-6327
Citizen Inquiries-
609-292-4925
State and Monmouth County Furniture Retailers Settle Lawsuit
NEWARK – Attorney General Paula T. Dow and the Division of Consumer Affairs have settled a lawsuit filed against Monmouth County furniture retailers, with the defendants agreeing to resolve existing and future consumer complaints, revise their business practices and pay up to $216,938 in civil penalties and reimbursements to the state.
The Office of the Attorney General and Division of Consumer Affairs filed suit against Spectrum Home Furnishings, Inc., Charles Serouya & Son, Inc. a/k/a Gallery, CS&S, Inc. and Charles Serouya, Inc., last June in State Superior County, Chancery Division, in Monmouth County. The state’ s lawsuit alleged that companies, all owned by Charles Serouya, violated the state's Consumer Fraud Act and related regulations, among other things, by delivering defective or non-conforming merchandise and then failing to provide consumers with refunds.
Pursuant to the settlement, defendants agreed to pay $104,657.00 in civil penalties and reimbursement of the state’s attorneys’ fees and investigative costs. The $112,281.00 balance of the settlement amount, which represents civil penalties, will be suspended and automatically vacated at the end of eighteen (18) months, provided defendants comply with the terms of the Final Consent Judgment. In entering into the settlement, defendants made no admission of liability or wrongdoing of any kind.
“This settlement addresses all existing consumer complaints and requires the defendants to resolve any future complaints through binding arbitration,” Attorney General Dow said. “The defendants agreed to revise their business practices to be in compliance with our consumer protection laws and regulations.”
Under the terms of the Final Consent Judgment, the defendants agreed to:
The defendants do not have retail stores, but maintain a warehouse in Farmingdale.
As part of the settlement, any of the 51 existing consumer complaints that remain unresolved will be referred to the Division’s Alternative Dispute Resolution (“ADR”) Unit for resolution through binding arbitration. Additionally, all consumer complaints received by the Division over the next year will be referred first to the defendants for resolution and then, if necessary to the ADR Unit.
Deputy Attorney General Sabina P. McKinney of the Consumer Fraud Prosecution Section represented the state in this action.
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