Civil vs. Criminal Conduct
The “name game” works because it takes advantage of the fact that some homeowners are willing to make large, cash payments and sign contracts. For the most part, the law says that as long as the work is started and issues that arise are handled in civil court and not criminal court.
But there are new allegations that this contractor may have finally crossed the line by changing not only the name of his business but his own.
A client who asked not to be identified tells 13 Wham News Shanley represented himself as Doug Stanley- the owner of Maintenance Free. He showed us the back of the business card which reads: Make all checks payable to Douglas M. Stanley.
The client says he complied but when he received the cancelled check the “t” in Stanley was changed to an “h”, reading Shanley.
“He just keeps getting away with this,” says Ron Booth who also alleges he was the victim of theft.
Booth filed a criminal complaint after the doors and windows he purchased for a barn project turned up missing. “He put them on another job he did for someone else,” said Booth. “And the way they found out about that is that he didn’t finish that job either.”
