Wis. Court Interprets Home Improvement Act to Double All Damages

MILWAUKEE, Wis. - Wisconsin's Court of Appeals ruled May 3 that a trial court erred in separating damages for statutory and non-statutory claims and said the state's Home Improvement Practices Act allows for the doubling of the total damages. Stuart v. Weisflog's Showroom Gallery, et al., Nos. 2005AP886, 2005AP1287 (Wis. Ct. App., Dist. II).

The court remanded for reconsideration of attorneys' fees and ordered the entire award of $95,000 doubled, despite a jury finding that only 25 percent of the damages should be apportioned to a remodeler's statutory misrepresentations.

The court denied the remodeler's appeal of the verdict, rejecting arguments …