Cleveland, OH
Complaints pile up in Northeast Ohio against Legacy Cremation Services, a funeral provider with a troubled past
CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – Losing a loved one is never easy but imagine being suddenly charged double or a funeral home refusing to give you your family member’s ashes. It’s a reality for some consumers across the country and here in Ohio.
The company claims to be a family-owned cremation service close to home. On their website, they say they’re located in Cleveland, Lorain, Rittman, and Medina but 19 Investigates discovered that the business is not located in Ohio at all.
Andrea Healy’s mom had been in hospice for about a month, and she knew her mother didn’t have much time left. So, she started searching online for local funeral homes.
“We decided we were looking for someplace closer that could get there faster in a time of need, and it stated Rittman on the Legacy website, so we assumed alright they’re close,” Healy said.
She called Legacy Cremation Services and agreed to pay $995 for her mom to be cremated. She even sent over the paperwork in advance. When her mother passed the next night, the company told her they had lost her paperwork.
“I asked them to verify what their address was, and they said that they were no longer in Rittman so from there I said where is my mother going from there and they said to Cleveland, and I said Cleveland? That’s not what I planned on Cleveland,” Healy said. “They told me the price was now double after my mom passed that in order for them to come pick her up, I’d have to prepay everything.”
Then they told Healy and her daughter Jennifer Farver, that they couldn’t pick her mother up until the next morning.
“We were starting to feel this breakdown in trust but also felt like we had very little options at this point because it was getting later in the evening by the time she had passed and we were going through our own steps of grieving,” Farver said.
The Medina family knew something wasn’t right.
“The girl didn’t seem to know the name of the facility where my mother was going to just that I’m meeting a guy on 117th Street in some alley somewhere as far as I was, I didn’t know where I was going and it just seemed pretty shady,” Healy recalled. “Then they said that my mother was being stored in a storage warehouse garage at that point, I said you’re storing my mother in a garage?”
Thankfully, they realized in time and went with another funeral home.
“I’m very grateful,” said Healy. “I just felt scammed right off the bat.”
Sue McConnell, with the Cleveland Better Business Bureau, said they’ve received several complaints about Legacy Cremation Services.
“The kinds of complaints we’re getting from consumers are very serious,” McConnell said. “The fact that they’re representing themselves as being local, that they are quoting one price, and when the services are completed, the price that they say you have to pay is much higher.”
One woman from Stow said the company’s owner would not release her brother’s remains unless she paid 495 dollars more than the original quote.
She wrote, “The company did a ‘bait and switch’ as well as held the cremains of my late brother’s body as ransom unless I paid what he demanded.”
“Oh, it just breaks my heart, it just makes my head spin,” said Healy. “I can’t believe that they would hold someone’s loved one’s ashes hostage like that.”
A 19 Investigation revealed that although Legacy’s website makes it look like they’re local, they’re not. Their last known location was in Colorado.
19 discovered the company collects payment upfront from grieving families and then subcontracts the cremation services to local businesses. Investigators say that’s led to a lot of problems including sudden hikes in prices, mix-ups, not providing death certificates, and in some cases holding family member’s remains until they pay a higher price.
In 2022 the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission sued Legacy Cremation Services and its owner AJ Damiano. The lawsuit was settled in 2023. The company was required to pay a penalty of $275,000 and to follow a strict set of rules.
“I mean how are they getting away with this?” Healy asked.
In 2023, the DOJ and FTC ordered Legacy and its owner Anthony “AJ” Damiano to disclose their physical location on their website, provide a price list online, and disclose upfront if their goods or services would be provided by a third-party company.
“Do you feel like the company misrepresented themselves?” 19 Investigator Kelly Kennedy asked Farver. “Do you feel like they made it seem like they were local, and they didn’t indicate that they were using any third parties?”
“Absolutely,” Farver said. “I had no idea third parties were involved at all. I think as soon as the address situation came up that was the first red flag. It didn’t sound like they had the information at their fingertips which started to set off some alarm bells.”
19 Investigates spoke with Rebecca Plett an attorney with the FTC.
“Legacy was misrepresenting their location to holding itself out to be a local funeral home when in reality it did not own or operate any funeral homes and then we also alleged that Legacy in some instances was withholding cremated remains from people as a way to get people to pay the higher prices that people previously didn’t know about so we alleged that that was unfair,” said Plett, Attorney with the Division of Marketing Practices in the Bureau of Consumer Protection at FTC.
“It says it’s a family-owned, close-to-home funeral home and there’s nothing about third parties on there. Is that going against the ruling?” Kennedy asked Plett.
“So, I can’t comment on their current conduct,” Plett said.
The funeral business was a family business for the Damianos. It started in South Florida with Joseph Damiano and his son AJ Damiano.
In 2002 Joseph was sued for illegally providing bodies for embalming classes at Lynn University in Florida without the family’s permission.
His son AJ was accused of fraud in Florida in 2001. AJ pleaded guilty to operating without a license and Florida banned him from the funeral business for a decade.
Then the family took their business online, setting up websites for Heritage Cremation Provider and Legacy Cremation Services.
“They need to be shut down; this needs to go nationwide,” said Healy.
I discovered Damiano Senior has since passed but his son is still running the business.
“That’s who I was speaking with that said their name was AJ,” Healy said.
This company has been fined in California and Oregon, and in Florida, Tennessee, and North Carolina, they’ve been banned from operating completely.
McConnell hopes some action will be taken against the company in Ohio.
“I mean, if this company is providing very poor service, and there are complaints that are racking up, and they have all these issues elsewhere, it certainly could be something that and law enforcement agencies should take a closer look at,” McConnell said.
Kennedy called Damiano.
The person who answered the phone claimed their name was John. He wouldn’t tell us his last name and became very defensive. He claimed all the accusations were false. Then he hung up the phone.
19 also reached out to the DOJ, they told us they could not comment on this matter.
If you believe you may have been a victim of this company – report it to the Federal Trade Commission, the Better Business Bureau, and the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.
Copyright 2024 WOIO. All rights reserved.
CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – For the second day, Northeast Ohio school districts are receiving bomb threats.
On Friday morning, two schools in the Elyria City School District, the high school and Ely Elementary, received bomb threats.
Both schools are evacuating students, and emergency responders are on the way, according to a social media post.
All other district schools are in a lockout status as a precaution.
The district asks that family members not come to the schools or call school offices at this time so emergency communication lines remain available.
Elyria Police said that the department is working with the district to ensure the safety and security of students and school personnel following the threats.
“We are aware that neighboring school districts experienced similar swatting-related incidents yesterday, and our investigative personnel are working diligently with our law enforcement partners to identify the source of these threats,” police said.
Five Northeast Ohio school districts received bomb threats on Thursday, including:
- Alliance City School District
- Amherst Exempted Village Schools
- Cleveland Metropolitan School District
- Lorain City School District
- Shaker Heights School District
Below are the details from each district and the protocols in place to protect students and staff.
ALLIANCE CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT
The Alliance Police Department confirmed there was an ’anonymous’ robo-voice style call that came into the high school saying there were ’20 pipe bombs’ outside of the school” before 12:30 p.m.
Officers rushed to the high school and Rockhill Elementary School campuses “due to an alarm in which we were not getting a response from the school,” according to APD.
APD shared that the schools evacuated the students temporarily as officers conducted a sweep of the area.
“Nothing was found, thankfully,” APD Lt. Christopher McCord stated. “The school staff, and especially the students, did a great job of staying calm and making everyone’s jobs easier, smoother, and safer.”
“We will be looking into the source of the threats to hold those responsible accountable, if possible,” McCord added.
AMHERST EXEMPTED VILLAGE SCHOOLS
The Amherst Exempted Village School confirmed at 10:25 a.m. that Marion L. Steele High School and Walter G. Nord Middle School received a bomb threat.
AEVS said all district facilities were placed on a level 1 lockdown before the two schools were evacuated to a safe location under the supervision of administration and staff, according to district protocol.
The Amherst police and fire departments teamed up with the Lorain County Sheriff’s Office to perform perimeter and building sweeps to determine if the threat was substantiated, said AEVS.
The perimeter sweeps of the two schools were complete by 11:34 a.m., and law enforcement then conducted the interior sweeps of the buildings, AEVS explained.
Amherst Junior High School and Powers Elementary School lifted their lockdowns at that time and resumed normal procedures, according to AEVS.
AEVS also confirmed at that time that all students and staff were accounted for and safe.
The Amherst Police Department completed its sweep of Steele High School and cleared the building of any threat by 11:51 a.m., AEVS updated.
Students were dismissed for the day at that time, according to AEVS.
AEVS instructed student drivers to leave the campus, and students unable to immediately leave were to stay at the school until they could be picked up by a parent, guardian, or approved emergency contact.
The bus routes were running at the scheduled normal dismissal time for students who need a ride home, AEVS added.
APD completed its sweep of Nord School and cleared the building of any threat by 12:32 p.m., AEVS updated.
Nord School students were safely escorted back into the building, according to AEVS, after evacuating to the New Beginning Church as a safe location.
AEVS instructed parents, guardians, and approved emergency contacts who wanted to pick up their student to report to the school’s front entrance, where staff and APD officers would help.
Classes, activities, and normal dismissal procedures resumed as scheduled for students who stayed at the school, AEVS shared, and bus dismissal also proceeded per usual.
“We appreciate the cooperation, patience, and support of our families and community throughout today’s situation,” AEVS stated.
According to AEVS Superintendent Mike Molnar, all evening activities at the school will continue as scheduled, and school will resume on Friday.
Molnar added that AEVS will have an increased police presence at schools on Thursday night and Friday.
CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN SCHOOL DISTRICT
The Cleveland Metropolitan School District confirmed two threats were received on Thursday morning. The threats were against East Tech High School and Buhrer Dual Language Academy.
According to CMSD, Cleveland police and CMSD’s Department of Safety & Security conducted an investigation and found the buildings to be safe.
From the information gathered during the searches, Cleveland police believe both calls were swatting incidents.
Classes at both schools were uninterrupted, and the school day progressed normally.
Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s Communications Officer Jon Benedict added that parents were informed about the incident.
LORAIN CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT
Lorain City School District confirmed the high school has been evacuated due to a bomb threat on Thursday afternoon.
This is the third Northeast Ohio school district to receive a bomb threat on May 7.
The district announced the evacuation of Lorain High School at 12:23 p.m., and dismissed students at 12:40 p.m.
Bus riders were escorted to the buses waiting to take them home, according to LCSD.
LCSD said many elementary and middle school students were at the high school for the dance showcase.
Those elementary and middle school students were brought back to their home schools, said LCSD.
All students and staff are safe and following established protocols, LCSD stated, and these measures are being taken out of an abundance of caution.
The district safety team and law enforcement partners continue to investigate this threat.
“Your students’ and our staff’s safety is our top priority,” LCSD stated.
A 19 News crew is on their way to the scene to learn more.
SHAKER HEIGHTS SCHOOL DISTRICT
Shaker Heights High School received its second threatening phone call this week on Thursday, the district confirmed.
Shaker Heights School District said it immediately teamed up with the Shaker Heights Police Department to investigate the threat and determined its credibility.
SHSD said it was aware of the other Northeast Ohio school districts that received similar threats on Thursday.
“Based on the SHPD’s assessment and established safety protocols, the decision was made to continue normal school operations rather than initiate a shelter-in-place,” SHSD stated.
Additional SHPD officers and a K-9 unit were sent to the school out of an abundance of caution to support the safety and security of the building as the investigation continues, SHSD added.
Orrville City Schools were also placed on a soft lockdown on Thursday.
However, this was not a bomb threat, nor any direct threat to the school.
The soft lockdown was a precautionary measure for an incident that happened not just off school property, but out of the town.
This is a developing story. Return to 19 News for updates.
Copyright 2026 WOIO. All rights reserved.
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