THE JANITORIAL AGENCY Allegedly Claims Another Victim
Lansing, MI-based The Janitorial Agency (TJA) allegedly offers promises of guaranteed, high-dollar, high-profit commercial cleaning jobs in exchange for thousands of dollars of upfront fees.
Once The Janitorial Agency gets their money, according to the alleged victims suing TJA in multiple lawsuits, The Janitorial Agency either uses stall tactics to put off their obligations, or provides unqualified leads that don’t resemble the impressive guaranteed accounts promised.
Eventually, The Janitorial Agency, its principals Steve Conner & Dan Carey and their team of complicit employees (such as Sue Bowers and Denise Shattuck) allegedly use loopholes in the contracts as excuses to terminate those who bought into their pitch, leaving them with neither their investments nor the cleaning jobs they were promised.
Janitorial franchise and business opportunity peddlers often prey on recent immigrants who invest all their resources upfront in the hopes of recouping their investment quickly by cleaning toilets and mopping floors.
Predatory janitorial opportunity sellers know that their victims’ limited language skills, connections in the legal community, and drained financial resources make it unlikely they’ll be able to fight back.
This may have been the case for Efrem Woldesllassie, a Minnesotan of Eritrean descent and an avid distance runner.
After allegedly being burned by The Janitorial Agency for $13,500, Woldesllassie tried to file a lawsuit on his own.
Not being an attorney, the lawsuit was dismissed on jurisdictional and procedural grounds.
All-Too-Familiar Complaints Against The Janitorial Agency
Efram Woldesllassie’s complaint contains an all-too familiar story:
The Defendant, “The Janitorial Agency” (“The Agency”), is an agency that finds cleaning contracts for existing and start-up janitorial businesses. It operates its business from its office at 2600 S. Waverly Road, Lansing, Ml 48911.
The Plaintiff “Efrem Cleaning System” is an entrepreneur janitorial business owned and operated by Efrem Woldesllassie (“Efrem”), an African American from Eritrean origin.
In October 2012, the Plaintiff entered into an agreement with the Janitorial Agency, whereby Efrem agreed to invest in purchasing buildings to clean (cleaning accounts) through them. When Efrem found their Web Ad, he called them. They invited him to come to Lansing, Michigan to get the deals.
Efrem traveled to Michigan. The Agency offered Efrem that if he pays $20,000, they could find him a building to clean that will generate him $240,000 annual income. The Janitorial Agency guaranteed that annual income as Return on the Investment and the contract was for two years.
The Janitorial Agency asked Efrem to pay the full amount up front.
But Efrem refused and offered them $10,000 as down payment instead. Efrem told them that wanted to start the new cleaning account first before he can pay them the rest of the money. They refused. Efrem decided to walk out. But, as he was walking out, they called him back and agreed to his terms. They took the $10,000 as down payment.
Both parties agreed that the remaining $10,000 was going to be paid from the monthly income of the new account through installment payment of $3,500 a month.
However, instead of finding the new buildings to clean, the Defendant started to take $3,500 from Efrem’s account. Efrem asked them why they were taking money before they gave him the new cleaning account. They keep writing emails warning him unless he pays the rest of the money, they will take the down payment and they will not find him an account. Then, when they tried to take another $3,500 from Efrem’s account again, he stopped them through his bank.
Efrem sent emails telling them that he was no longer interested in their business and asked them to refund his money immediately.
To date, the Defendant hasn’t found any cleaning account and they are refusing to refund the money. Instead, they want to take more money without any service. This has been going on for the past 3 months.
Read:
Efram Cleaning System’s Complaint Against The Janitorial Agency (PDF)
Order Dismissing Efram Complaint Against The Janitorial Agency
Also read:
THE JANITORIAL AGENCY Scam or No Scam?
THE JANITORIAL AGENCY Franchise Lawsuit Alleges Fraud, Racketeering
THE JANITORIAL AGENCY Employees Named in Racketeering Lawsuit
If you believe you are a victim of The Janitorial Agency and would like information on possibly joining the class action suit, contact Fortman Law.
If you are a defendant, franchisee, employee, friend or associate of The Janitorial Agency and think the lawsuit is without merit, your comments are welcome.
The Janitorial Agency has been offered the chance to provide a rebuttal, clarification or other statement for publication on UnhappyFranchisee.Com.
ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE JANITORIAL AGENCY, STEVE CONNOR, DAN CAREY OR THE OTHER DEFENDANTS?? WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
TAGS: The Janitorial Agency, The Janitorial Agency scam, The Janitorial Agency lawsuit, The Janitorial Agency ripoff, The Janitorial Agency litigation, TJA, Steve Conner, Steve Connor, Dan Carey, Efrem Woldesllassie, janitorial scam, Jonathan Fortman, Jon Fortman
DISCLOSURE: The attorney discussed in this post, Jonathan Fortman, participates in our Franchise Attorney Directory.