The Pennsylvania attorney general is suing a Pittsburgh interior designer for nearly $200,000, alleging that she and her company failed to follow through on jobs they promised and were paid for up front.
Lauren Piasecki, 44, of Morningside, has already been charged with multiple counts of theft, home improvement fraud, receiving stolen property and deceptive business practices.
Piasecki, the lead designer and founding partner of Black Cherry Design, is accused in eight separate criminal cases of scamming alleged victims — including ones in Fox Chapel and Mt. Lebanon — out of nearly $500,000.
According to the lawsuit filed Thursday in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court, the attorney general alleges that various customers designated Black Cherry Design as their purchasing agent for a variety of home renovation projects.
As purchasing agent, the company could then buy furniture and other items on the consumer’s behalf.
The lawsuit, which was filed under Pennsylvania’s Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law, alleges that often the products were not delivered to the customers and in some cases weren’t even ordered — despite Black Cherry requiring customers to prepay the entire invoice before making the purchases.
After an initial consultation, Black Cherry, which advertised as a high-end, full-service interior design firm, would typically present customers with a design plan and invoices for furnishings. The home renovation projects included bathroom remodels and living room redesigns, the lawsuit said.
In one instance, in December 2023, a customer paid nearly $64,000 to remodel four bathrooms in their home.
The lawsuit alleges the customer did not receive nearly $34,000 worth of items purchased for that job.
In another case, from January 2023, a customer paid more than $170,000 to update light fixtures, flooring and window treatments, as well as renovate bathrooms and paint several rooms in their home.
The only items out of the entire purchase that customer received, the lawsuit said: $4,600 worth of tiles.
The lawsuit seeks restitution to the affected customers, as well as an order stopping Black Cherry Design and Piasecki from offering prepayments for future sales.
It includes a single claim that the defendant failed to comply with state consumer protection laws.
Piasecki’s criminal defense lawyer did not immediately respond to a message left by TribLive.
Anyone who believes they may have been a victim of Black Cherry Designs or Lauren Piasecki, can file a complaint online, or contact the Bureau of Consumer Protection at 1-800-441-2555.