Contractors doing work in Tahoe caught in sting
Nineteen people on the South Shore face charges from an April 30 undercover sting by the the California Contractors State License Board and Nevada State Contractors Board.
Dubbed Border Blitz, it snared 11 people on the California side for illegal contracting charges and eight in Nevada. Three caught in Nevada are licensed contractors in California.
The stings were at a single-family home near the junction of highways 50 and 89 junction and at a condominium in Stateline. Investigators from CSLB’s Statewide Investigative Fraud Team and NSCB posed as homeowners seeking bids for various projects that included exterior painting, deck work, landscaping, and other tasks requiring general “B” building contractor skills.
According to investigators, those cited after giving bids in California were issued notices to appear in El Dorado County Superior Court. The eight Nevada suspects are scheduled to answer charges in Lake Tahoe Justice Court.
All 11 suspects cited in California face misdemeanor charges of contracting without a license. Home improvement and construction jobs in California valued at $500 or more (combined labor and material costs) must be conducted by a company or person with a CSLB-issued license. Nine of the 11 were also cited on a misdemeanor charge of illegal advertising. California law requires contractors to place their license number in all print, broadcast, and online advertisements. Those without a license can advertise for jobs valued at less than $500, but the ad must state that they are not a licensed contractor.
Nevada’s threshold for licensed contracting work is $1,000. All eight suspects caught in Stateline were cited for contracting without a license, and seven of them face an additional charge of advertising without a license. In Nevada, advertising contracting services without a license is illegal.
Here are the names of those cited:
|
SUSPECT’S NAME |
LICENSE |
VIOLATIONS |
|
Todd Raymond Kubicka |
B – General |
Contracting without a license, |
|
Aston Zane Martin |
C33 – Painting and Decorating | Contracting without a license, Illegal advertising |
|
Robert Martin Avila |
C33 – Painting and Decorating | Contracting without a license, Illegal advertising |
|
Roy Franklin Johnson |
B – General | Contracting without a license, Illegal advertising |
|
Gary Phillips Thomas Sr. |
C33 – Painting and Decorating | Contracting without a license, Illegal advertising |
|
Juvenal Loayza-Baca |
B – General | Contracting without a license |
|
Charles Wayne Smith |
C33 – Painting and Decorating | Contracting without a license, Illegal advertising |
|
Prisciliano Perez-Peralta |
B – General | Contracting without a license, Illegal advertising |
|
Edward Joseph Jachimiak |
C33 – Painting and Decorating | Contracting without a license, Illegal advertising |
|
Todd Richard Hall |
C33 – Painting and Decorating | Contracting without a license |
|
Thomas Howard Cook |
B – General | Contracting without a license, Illegal advertising |
— Lake Tahoe News staff report
When your a contractor you must put your Contractors license number on all advertising by law. So when the home owners see ads / trucks without it, most likely they are not fully legal. Many do not have workers comp liability or the right to charge over $500.
Having said this i think it is time for the $500 level to be raised to maybe $1,000.
As much as i appreciate the stings every year to level the playing field, people have a right to work. As a contractor it pisses me off when i see the ads stating their exaggerated skills, but i also realize everybody has to eat.
So homeowners, ask you workers straight out if they have workers comp and liability insurance for their men working. That would save money for all concerned.
Fair and balanced Micheal I share your thoughts.
I know a man by the name of Thomas Patrick Shelley or better known as Tbone. He allowed a man to fall from a 25 stifling to whom the person was seriously insured by not checking his work and by not having workers comp insurance. He was not licensed. He is wanted by OSHA. Con artist!! You end up loosing your value by saving a buck. In the long run get a licensed contractor!!
is it just me? name – license classification and then the violation? in the table – are these the licenses they had or didn’t have? – from the table it seems like maybe some did not have the required license as opposed to no license.
Also, does a contractor’s license really mean the contractor has any special skill sets or insurance that is currently valid? Or is it like the city business license. City business licenses give the impression of some standards being met and are supposed to have physical addresses of residence of the owner on file. Yet SLT has taken applications with private mailbox addresses that shield the owner from others knowing how to serve a subpoena or judgement. I know of a case in which a person that went to the city to find the physical location of the owner of a recently closed business could only find a private mail box (ownership of which is not revealed even with a subpoena) on the license app ad no physical address. The person was told the license isn’t meant to certify anything “it’s just a revenue generating mechanism” That quote was from the city manager at the time! I was there when he told that to the person that had a court judgement against the business owner.
all contractor in the field of license must have a certain amount of time in that field and must pass a written exam. they must have a valid workers comp policy on file and if it gets canceled the insurance company notifies the state and the state will suspend the license until there is workers comp insurance. i do not believe there is a requirement for general liability insurance
LJames: I think the ‘license, classification’ is what they were SUPPOSED to have, but didn’t, for the job being done.
And yes, a contractor’s license is very different from a business license. A contractor has to have both. The contractors’ licenses come from the state, the business license from a city and/or county. To get a contractors’ license an applicant has to pass tests, show competence, and usually either take classes or show work experience.
You can check with the Contractors’ license board to make sure your contractor is not only licensed, but also bonded and insured, and if he’s had any complaints.