FROM STAFF REPORTS 

Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange is seeking a preliminary injunction against a Pelham roofing company and its managers, who are accused of taking deposits from customers for work that was never completed.

On Sept. 26, the court granted the attorney general’s motion for a temporary restraining order against Cornerstone Renovations, LLC, the company’s chief financial officer, David C. Sorjonen of Georgia, and its chief sales manager, Shawn A. Lay of Hoover.

The motion for a preliminary injunction to keep the restraining order in effect will be heard Oct. 10 at 1:30 p.m. in Room 360 of the Jefferson County Courthouse by Judge Joseph L. Boohaker.

Strange’s motion claims that, after taking deposits of several thousand dollars, the defendants “failed to deliver, repair and replace the roofs of more than 70 of its customers after a period of several months.”

In a civil complaint filed Sept. 24, Strange claimed Sorjonen and Lay previously served as managers with Georgia Roofing and Construction, a company that declared a $2.8 million bankruptcy in 2010. Strange claimed the unexpected and sudden bankruptcy left more than 500 people, including 169 Alabamians, with repairs never performed and with their cash deposits allegedly lost.

Strange’s complaint against Cornerstone, Sorjonen and Lay states the defendants dispatched sales representatives to go door-to-door to solicit customers after storms struck Alabama neighborhoods.

Later, as months passed with no work being done, Strange claimed defendants blamed the weather, shipment delays, contractor disputes, overworked employees and higher-need customers. According to a press release from Strange’s office, “Those excuses continued even after defendants abandoned their office with the deposit money of more than 70 Alabamians.”

Strange’s lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction prohibiting defendants from operating in the construction industry, an order requiring refunds for all affected customers and the payment of maximum fines and penalties. Until the Oct. 10 hearing, defendants are prohibited from being a seller, servicer or supplier for any consumer transaction in Alabama.