A father-son plumber duo whose coverage area includes Butler County faces accusations of fraud from the state attorney general's office.

Howard Stahl of Allegheny County and his son, Nolan Stahl of Erie County, are the subjects of a lawsuit filed by the attorney general's Bureau of Consumer Protection, according to a news release.

The men's' companies, Pearl Plumbing and Stahl Brothers Plumbing respectively, do business as Roto-Rooter and Rooter Man within Erie, Crawford, Mercer, Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Lawrence and Washington counties.

Investigators allege that Nolan would recommend unnecessary work to customers while he worked for his father. Howard, they claim, demanded payment from customers for the work even after hearing repeated consumer complaints about the fraud.

Nolan, the office's complaint claims, even showed prerecorded footage of broken sewer pipes to customers while pretending to show live footage of their pipes.

Two customers in Erie County have told investigators that they disproved the Stahls' sewer diagnoses by getting second opinions.

Jill Ambrose, deputy attorney general, filed the suit.

The attorney general's office is soliciting more complaints and information about the Stahls at 800-441-2555 or at scams@attorneygeneral.gov.