More lawsuits piled up as Paramount failed to pay its bills -- a $43,000 judgment for one Los Angeles subcontractor; a $162,000 suit by another. A sign maker, a website designer and the Seattle hotel where Slepcevic had put on the latest Disaster Summit all claimed they had been stiffed.
In January 2008, Poizner and Paramount reached a settlement. Without admitting wrongdoing, Paramount agreed to stop representing itself as a public adjuster and pay a $200,000 fine.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Tuesday, August 04, 2009 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 4 National Desk 1 inches; 35 words Type of Material: Correction
Disaster recovery: An article in the July 5 Section A about the disaster recovery industry said that half of states license public insurance adjusters. According to the National Assn. for Insurance Commissioners, 46 states do.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Sunday, August 09, 2009 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 4 National Desk 1 inches; 35 words Type of Material: Correction
Disaster recovery: An article in the July 5 Section A about the disaster recovery industry said that half of states license public insurance adjusters. According to the National Assn. for Insurance Commissioners, 46 states do.
The district attorney in El Dorado County, site of the Angora fire, agreed to suspend six related misdemeanor charges, as long as Paramount paid its fine and obeyed the law.
"I am pleased that we could take these unscrupulous characters out of the post-disaster marketplace," Poizner said in a statement.
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More complaints
By fall, however, when hurricanes Gustav and Ike swept across the Gulf states, Paramount was on the scene to help.
It wasn't long before complaints surfaced. Paramount was fired by the owners of a 92-unit condo complex in Galveston, Texas, for allegedly doing unnecessary repair work. Two subcontractors say they are owed a total of more than $250,000. And the Texas attorney general recently opened an investigation into the company's activities.
Meanwhile, Slepcevic is six months behind on his fine payments to the California Insurance Department, which received five new complaints about the company in 2008. The department defended its record in a statement, saying it "has actively pursued Paramount and fined the company hundreds of thousands of dollars."
Even so, Slepcevic was as of last week Facebook friends with Steve Poizner, who is running for governor. And far from being out of the "disaster marketplace," Paramount continues to look for new opportunities in disaster.
"Crews Deployed in Santa Barbara to provide smoke/fire clean up and total custom home reconstruction," Slepcevic announced via Twitter recently.
His contractor's license was suspended at the time, but he told The Times he referred customers to relatives.
He also recently put out a news release offering a new service: cleaning schools and hospitals contaminated by swine flu.
"Stick around," Slepcevic said in the recent interview. "We're getting bigger and better."
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jason.felch@latimes.com
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