The Iowa Attorney General's Office entered into an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance with a commercial cleaning company, resolving allegations that the company falsely claimed that its cleaning services provided long-lasting protection against COVID-19.  As part of the settlement, Heritage Building Maintenance (and related parties) agreed to provide refunds to consumers and pay a $75,000 penalty. 

In announcing the settlement, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller said, "As the pandemic began, we shared concerns that companies would try to sell cleaning services based on unfounded claims to prevent the coronavirus, wasting Iowans’ money and potentially harming their health.  We were pleased to come to a resolution with Heritage Building Maintenance and to finalize this agreement that refunds customers and puts an end to these claims."  

The Iowa AG charged Heritage Building Maintenance with falsely claiming that it's "Test-Treat-Track" process kept surfaces free from the coronavirus for 30 to 90 days after application.  The AG also alleged that the company falsely advertised that the process provided long-term protection against viruses and the transmission of infections.  Noting that although the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had approved certain protection claims for the chemicals, the Iowa AG said that the company simply didn't have a reasonable basis for the specific COVID-19 protection claims that it was making.