State court shuts down contractor

HARRISBURG — A Lancaster County roofing contractor lost his right to do business in Pennsylvania Thursday after a Commonwealth Court judge heard testimony from nine of his former customers.

In 1993, Ralph Kline, 50, of 300 Lake View Drive, Manheim, reached a settlement with the state Bureau of Consumer Protection, under then-Attorney General Ernest D. Preate Jr., who had filed a civil lawsuit on behalf of nine of Kline’s customers.

The customers accused Kline of questionable business practices related to his contracting company, Ralph Kline Roofing, Siding & Insulation.

Seven months later, Kline was found to have violated the settlement and was ordered to pay $22,000 in consumer penalties and comply with industry standards.

In November, Attorney General Tom Corbett’s office filed a new grievance and asked Commonwealth Court to again hold Kline in contempt.

This time, the attorney general’s office wanted the court to strip Kline of his right to do business. Deputy Attorney General Jodi L. Zucco sent subpeonas to 30 people, most of them homeowners who had dealt with Kline.

One by one, Wednesday, Kline’s former customers took the witness stand and told Judge Keith B. Quigley similar stories.

Kline sat impassively as customer after customer answered questions from Zucco and Kline’s defense attorney, Harry W. Fenton, of Lebanon.

Ronald Musselman, a professor of chemistry at Franklin & Marshall College, said he paid Kline $460 up front to fix a leaky roof at his East Hempfield Township home. Kline promised to make the repair early the following week, Musselman said.

When Kline failed to show up to do the work, Musselman said he called Kline.

“I wanted to see about the schedule,” Musselman said. “I spoke with Mr. Kline directly. He said, ‘You’re pressuring me. Don’t pressure me.’”

According to the contract, Musselman was entitled to a full refund, plus interest, if the work was not completed in a timely manner.

Musselman called to inform Kline he was exercising the cancellation clause.

“His first words were, ‘Don’t call here so damn often,” Musselman said. “When I told him I was canceling, he said, ‘We’re sending someone right out there. Don’t cancel.’”

Kline never showed up, Musselman said.

When Fenton asked if Kline refunded his money, Musselman said he had.

“I received my money back, with 50 cents interest,” he said.

Other customers weren’t so lucky.

Donna Haulman, formerly of Ephrata, saw Kline’s advertisement in the phone book and contracted him to replace several pieces of damaged siding and reattach spouting brackets.

Haulman said she paid Kline $306 up front, but later that day had second thoughts.

Her contract called for a full refund if the work is canceled within three days of signing the agreement.

“I tried to stop payment, but he had already cashed the check,” Haulman said. “When I called him, he told me to go try to find somebody cheaper and call him Monday.”

Haulman said she did find a cheaper contractor but never spoke with Kline again. She sent him a certified letter canceling the contract, but it was returned unopened.

“It was like he vanished,” Haulman said.

Kline never even started the work, Haulman said, and still has not refunded her money.

The stories became progressively worse.

Lancaster resident Diane Morgan said Kline still has her $812.50, but he never replaced her slate roof shingles, like he promised.

Ephrata resident Dervin Bender testified to losing $2,450 to Kline for a roof replacement that was never done.

Columbia resident John Bitts said Kline failed to refund more than $3,000 after repeatedly failing to complete work at his house. When a refund check was issued, it bounced, Bitts said.

Lititz resident Sherry Price said Kline’s “shoddy” work on her roof has cost her thousands of dollars.

After lunch, Judge Quigley met with Zucco and Fenton in his chambers to discuss scheduling, but “it expanded into a resolution of this situation,” Quigley said.

Quigley said there was “considerable merit” to the testimony given by Kline’s former customers, and after discussion with both sides, he found Kline in contempt of the 1993 settlement agreement.

The judge issued an order dissolving Kline’s business and prohibiting him from becoming the sole proprietor, partner or shareholder in the roofing business “for all times.”

“This order does not prevent him from seeking employment within the roofing industry,” Quigley said. “Though some of you might argue this, that seems to be his area of expertise.”

Quigley said anyone with similar complaints or outstanding refunds has 90 days to file a complaint with the attorney general’s office. A mediator will be assigned to settle the claims and “the conclusions of the mediator shall be binding, without any right to an appeal.”

Fenton said before the agreement was reached, Kline had planned to take the stand to “defend each one of these actions.”

“It is our intention to defend each of these cases throughout the mediation process as well,” Fenton said.

Zucco said she was pleased by the judge’s decision.

“I mean he was talking about incarceration if Mr. Kline does not comply with the order,” she said. “Our primary goal was to put him out of business, and that’s what we did.”