Elias Kort, et. al. v. Creative Solutions and Services, LLC, et. al., 2011 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 2746 (Nov. 1, 2011)

Regulatory violations under the Consumer Fraud Act resulted in award of attorney fees.

The Appellate Division reversed a trial court’s decision to not impose personal liability on the owner of a residential construction company under the Consumer Fraud Act. In imposing personal liability, the court found that the owner participated directly in the regulatory violations by executing a home improvement contract that omitted required provisions and inferred to the plaintiffs that he would be personally responsible for the contents of the contract. While the Appellate Division affirmed that there was no ascertainable loss as a result of the regulatory violations and that the amount in damages was limited to the terms of the contract, the plaintiffs' were nevertheless awarded attorney fees as the court held that the “failure to prove an ascertainable loss caused by the Consumer Fraud Violation is not a bar to their recovery of attorneys’ fees and costs under the Act.”

Case Law Alert, 1st Qtr 2012