State holds hearings on home contractor scams

May 31, 2007

Capital News 9, Albany, NY

By: Evan Axelbank

ArID=212945

In plastic bags is the mold that grew in Jim Bombard's house over

the last ten months ever since a contractor he hired to fix his roof

wound up making things worse.

" After he had the trusses up, he was done for the night, and didn't

tarp the roof. The next morning, he showed up and tried tarping the

roof, but he didn't make it before it rained, and all the rain got

inside my house, " he said.

This ruined over $100,000 worth of his stuff. He won't say who the

contractor was, but he did say a settlement is on the table for

$44,000. And, he'd still be out at least $60,000.

" It should be enough money to get the mold out of the living area

that I have to deal with day to day. I'll have to repair the rest of

it as I can afford it. "

" Unfortunately, the state says Jim is only one of thousands who

experience something like this with a building contractor. "

" The consumer is paying hard-earned dollars for good work, and

oftentimes unfortunately, they're left holding the bag with poor

work or incomplete work, " said Consumer Protection Board Chairwoman

Mindy Bockstein said.

Bockstein is holding hearings around New York to figure out what's

going wrong. She spots these common mistakes: hiring without a

second reference, paying with cash up front, and not linking payment

to work completed. But, Bombard claims he was careful and still got

taken. He spotted another hole.

" To be a barber you need a license, to inspect cars in this state

you need a license, to be a contractor you spend $15 to get a DBA,

and you're a contractor, " Bombard said.

Licenses for contractors is an idea the Consumer Protection Board is

considering.

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