A consumer fraud lawsuit has been filed against Amazon Home Warranty, LLC its officers, and affiliated entities for allegedly making misleading statements in connection with the sale of home warranties to Arizona consumers.
Amazon Home Warranty, also known as AHW, is not affiliated with Amazon.com.
The lawsuit filed by the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) alleges that AHW falsely advertised that they had been in business for nearly 10 years, even though AHW had just recently started operating. In furtherance of their misleading scheme, AHW purportedly created fake identities to hide the true identity of the company’s primary owner — Harry J. Bailey—to conceal his substantial connection with a prior failed home warranty company, which earned an “F” rating with the BBB and had its authority to do business revoked by the State of New Jersey. The Defendants even went as far as to publicly install fictitious individuals to appear as AHW’s president.
The lawsuit additionally alleges AHW went even further by illegally promoting the business through bogus five-star reviews. Incredibly, the fake reviews often were copies of consumer reviews previously posted about competitors of AHW. For example, on a single day — October 5, 2020 — at least twenty five-star reviews that had previously been posted by customers to another home warranty company’s website were repurposed and posted to the BBB’s website by individuals purporting to be AHW customers.
If you believe you have been the victim of consumer fraud, you can file a consumer complaint by visiting the Attorney General’s website. If you need a complaint form sent to you, you can contact the Attorney General’s Office in Phoenix at (602) 542-5763, in Tucson at (520) 628-6648, or outside the Phoenix and Tucson metro areas at (800) 352-8431.
The lawsuit was filed in the Maricopa County Superior Court. The AGO seeks consumer restitution, civil penalties, and injunctive relief to prevent the Defendants from further deceiving consumers.
This is the third action Attorney General Brnovich has filed against a home warranty company in the last two years. A lawsuit filed against Choice Home Warranty in November 2019 is ongoing. Earlier this year, the AGO obtained a consent agreement against Landmark Home Warranty, securing up to $1,000,000 in restitution for 26,000 Arizona consumers after the company failed to provide promised expedited services during heat emergencies.