Michigan AG sues tree service companies for alleged price gouging after severe weather

(CBS DETROIT) – Michigan attorney Dana Nessel has filed a lawsuit alleging that a group of tree service companies engaged in price gouging during storm cleanup services.

The lawsuit was filed against Florida-based Canary Date Sculpting Inc., Michigan-based Holtslander and Sons Tree Service LLC, Mississippi-based Garrison McKinney Tree and Bridge Services, and Kentucky-based E&B Contracting.

State officials opened an investigation into the businesses after the 2022 tornado in Gaylord.

According to the lawsuit, the investigation found that between 2021 and 2022, the owner of Canary Date Sculpting allegedly recruited other companies to perform cleaning services and misled Michigan consumers “about the nature of the agreements that what they were signing, the cost of the services they were providing, the possibility of financial liability for costs not covered by insurance, and consumer confusion about their legal rights and obligations.

Officials also found that even if Canary Date Sculpting did not perform any further work after May 2022, Holtslander and Sons allegedly continued its “unfair business practices” into 2023, according to the lawsuit.

“After major storms, bad actors take advantage of vulnerable residents, desperate to repair damage to their homes and clean up debris,” Nessel said in a statement. “My office will not tolerate companies that exploit consumers with deceptive tactics and will continue to investigate and prosecute predatory companies to the fullest extent of the law.”