FISHERS, Ind. -- The Office of Indiana State Chemist (OISC) has issued a $750 fine against a Fishers lawn care company for advertising for pesticide and fertilizer services without having the proper business license.
Castleton Lawn Care has filed dozens of lawsuits against its former customers, accusing them of failing to pay their bills.
However, many of those customers told Call 6 Investigates they do not owe any money, and that the company was plagued with poor service and billing problems including missing invoices and bills for services the customers say they never received.
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One of the sued customers filed a complaint with OISC in September alleging the company was advertising “fertilization” and claimed to be “licensed and insured.”
On September 28, state investigators issued a stop action order against the company’s owner Daniel Ciesniewski, warning him he can’t apply fertilizer or advertise the service without a license.
Ciesniewski told OISC the company never applied fertilizer and that he thought the fertilization page of the website was taken down in 2015, after the company was fined $250 for advertising fertilizing services without a license.
On October 11, OISC received another complaint Castleton Lawn Care was distributing magnets on mailboxes on the northeast side of Indianapolis claiming to offer fertilizer services.
State investigators cited Castleton Lawn Care for violating the stop action order, as well as claiming to be in the fertilizer business without having a license.
As of January 23, Castleton Lawn Care has not paid the $750 penalty.
The $250 fine from 2015 was not paid, and was sent to collections, records show.
State investigators told Ciesniewski that materials and company trucks must include a notation indicating applications will be made by a licensed contractor.
Castleton Lawn Care has filed dozens of lawsuits against former clients since August 30 in Marion, Hancock and Hamilton counties.
Ciesniewski and his attorneys have declined requests for comment on their lawsuits against customers.
Call 6 Investigates sent an email to the company and their attorney Mark Metzger asking for a copy of their fertilizer license, but we did not hear back.
OISC did not find any evidence during its investigation that Castleton Lawn Care ever applied fertilizer to customers’ lawns.
