Published: September 04, 2008 10:47 pm      

Attorney general sues mobile home company

The state attorney general has filed a civil suit against a Cambria County company and its owners, accusing them of failing to deliver modular or manufactured homes that had been purchased.

The owners, Thomas and Tina Seaman of Popish Road, Portage, also face criminal charges filed by county District Attorney Pat Kiniry.

Those charges accuse them of five instances of theft by failure to make required disposition of funds received and conspiracy to commit theft.

The criminal case is pending in county court.

Thirteen buyers who said they paid a total of $183,000 to Sunrise Mobile Homes in Carrolltown are listed in the civil suit filed by Attorney General Tom Corbett.

The suit is open-ended, and Corbett’s office is asking other consumers who think they have been victimized to contact his office.

Corbett’s suit is against the Seamans and their company Triple T Construction, doing business as Sunrise Mobile Homes on Plank Road.

The complaint says that Sunrise never delivered homes that had been purchased, failed to order homes for consumers who made down payments and failed to provide refunds.

The Seamans were not immediately available for comment.

Phones at Sunrise Mobile Homes and the couple’s residence were disconnected, according to a recorded message.

“Buying a home is one of the most important and most expensive purchases that most consumers will ever make. It is totally unacceptable to take money from consumers with the promise of providing them with a new home, only to leave those people homeless and empty-handed,” Corbett said in a news release.

Consumers who think they are entitled to restitution can join the complaint by calling the state consumer hotline, (800) 441-2555, or filing a complaint online at www.attorneygeneral.gov.

The action was filed in Cambria County by Margie Anderson, a deputy attorney general in the Ebensburg regional office of the Bureau of Consumer Protection.