CHIMICLES SCHWARTZ KRINER & DONALDSON-SMITH LLP (CSK&D) FILES MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION AND DECLARATORY JUDGMENT AGAINST HOMEADVISOR
Costello et al., v. HomeAdvisor, Inc. et al., Case No. 1:18-cv-01802 (D. Colo.)
On October 11, 2018, CSK&D filed a Motion for Preliminary Injunction and Declaratory Judgment against HomeAdvisor arising from HomeAdvisor’s perpetual misuse of Former Home Service Professionals’ (“HSPs”) company names and Online Profile Pages. HomeAdvisor’s online directory is comprised of Online Public Profiles that are customized business profiles created by HomeAdvisor for HSPs. The Online Public Profiles are presented as a “benefit”; however, in actuality, the pages are designed and maintained in a manner that is intended to confer significant financial benefits upon HomeAdvisor to the detriment of Former HSPs by making false, misleading and deceptive statements and representations with the intention of generating Leads.
HomeAdvisor accomplishes this objective by usurping the online presence of Former HSPs and driving traffic to the Online Profile Pages hosted by HomeAdvisor. Once in HomeAdvisor’s grasp, service request inquiries and submissions made by prospective customers are intercepted and/or redirected by HomeAdvisor and then converted into Leads that are then charged to HomeAdvisor’s current HSPs, who are the Former HSPs’ competitors. This scheme generates unauthorized and deceptively derived revenue for HomeAdvisor while irreparably harming the Former HSPs through material misrepresentations that influence the decisions made by the prospective customers, resulting ultimately in the misappropriation of business opportunities for the Former HSPs.
A copy of the Motion for Preliminary Injunction and Declaratory Judgment and accompanying exhibits can be viewed below.
Click here to view the Oct. 12, 2018 PRNewswire Press Release about this Motion.
The lawsuit does not involve, concern, cover or assert claims related to “Angi Services” and “Handy Pros”. The HomeAdvisor class action lawsuit was filed by, and is brought on behalf of, service professionals who signed up to be part of the HomeAdvisor (now Angi Leads) home service professionals network (or Pro network), and who were sent and charged Leads by HomeAdvisor, now called Angi Leads. The lawsuit does not include any claims concerning Angi’s booking of home service jobs, for which Angi charges and collects money from the homeowner and then sends payment to SPs for the job. If you are a home service provider or consumer that has a complaint about Handy, Handy Pros, and/or Angi Services, you may want to report your complaint to the BBB https://www.bbb.org/, the FTC https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/, or your state Attorney General. Also, if you believe that you have a legal claim against Handy, Handy Pros and/or Angi Services, you should contact and discuss it with an attorney.
