New Law Cracks Down On Old Contracting Problem

The closure of a loophole is tightening the noose around illegal contractors who try to skirt the law by operating with someone else's license number. This is one of the new laws taking effect at the Contractors State License Board (CSLB) in January 2007.

The law created by AB2897 makes it a criminal charge for anyone involved with a revoked license (member, officer, director, owner, or partner) to knowingly let the revoked person act as a contractor or hire revoked licensees as anything other than a non-supervising employee.

"Some individuals have tried to get around a revoked license by operating with another license taken out by friends or family members," said CSLB Registrar Steve Sands. "This breaks the cycle of illegal operation."

One example is a contractor, Richard Ladd Turek from the San Diego area, who had his license revoked, was later caught using his wife's license number and then his father's license number to continue to contract and harm consumers. July 27, 2006, Richard Turek pleaded no contest to contracting without a license and was sentenced to three years summary probation and a $1,200 fine. However, pursuant to AB2897 a violation of this section is now a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than four thousand five hundred dollars ($4,500), by imprisonment in a county jail for not less than neither 30 days nor more than one year, or by both the fine and imprisonment.

The CSLB urges consumers to verify a building contractor’s license. Read more at cslb.ca.gov