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(October 9, 2006)--Experts say finding an honest, readily available contractor is a challenge these days on the Gulf Coast as hurricane recovery continues. Last year's Hurricane Katrina demolished tens of thousands of homes and sent several hundred thousand evacuees to Texas. Authorities expect the construction fraud problem to grow worse as more federal grant money reaches homeowners in Mississippi and Louisiana. In March, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour signed into law a measure elevating home-repair fraud from a misdemeanor to a felony, punishable by up to ten years in prison. Since Katrina, the Mississippi attorney general's office has opened more than 350 home-repair fraud investigations. At least ten have led to arrests.
A Bucks County, Pa., contracting firm was awarded more than $38.4 million last week in its suit against the city of Newark, Del., for terminating its contract to build a reservoir and later tarnishing its reputation by accusing the contractor of quitting the job. In the suit, Donald M. Durkin Contracting Inc. of Southampton, Pa., claimed its contract to build a 318-million gallon reservoir was terminated after it raised concerns about whether the reservoir could be built as designed. Plaintiffs attorney Paul A. Logan of Powell Trachtman Logan Carrle & Lombardo in King of Prussia told the Delaware federal court jury that Newark city officials refused to address the problems and instead set out to ruin Durkin's reputation and interfere with its ability to obtain additional jobs.
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