[ChuckF.]

Undercover Cops Hired 118 Handymen, Then Arrested Them All for Not Having Licenses (Florida):

https://reason.com/2020/02/05/under...en-arrested-them-all-for-not-having-licenses/

 

[Windows on Wash]

Goodness gracious. Is this REALLY on the list of crimes that we should be attacking? I don't know and that is a genuine question.

 

[Msradell]

Goodness gracious. Is this REALLY on the list of crimes that we should be attacking? I don't know and that is a genuine question.

Actually in Florida this is probably a major issue. With so many older retired people who can't do things for themselves I'm sure there are many unlicensed "professionals" whose ripoff people regularly for minor work that requires licensure.

 

[mathmonger]

I'd have a field day if they did that in NJ!

 

[Calson]

As though a licensed contractor will not rip off homeowners - really?
These are an easy way for the local LEO's to boost their numbers without having to actually do any police work.

The entire state of Florida is the fraud capital of the world, considerabley outdoing even Nigeria. This is well known and so the state attracts criminals as they know that the odds of their being brought to trial by a local prosecuter are zero. But it is easier to go after a handyman who is helping the elderly with affordable repairs than to go after the banksters and real estate swindlers and identity theft perpetrators.


We truly have two very different sets of laws in this country. A handyman shows up to install a smoke detector and they get arrested while the likes of Wells Fargo can steal 2 million homes with illegal robo foreclosures and put people out on the streets and none of their people go to jail.

 

[Nik333]

https://www.actionnewsnow.com/conte...-of-Camp-Fire-undercover-sting-567467811.html


Unlicensed contractors prey on Camp Fire Victims, many of whom are elderly.

 

[Oso954]

The CSLB regularly conducts sting operations, not just in disaster areas.
Here are the 2019 press releases. Most of them concern stings. You just don’t generally see them unless one is near you.
https://www.cslb.ca.gov/Media_Room/Press_Releases/2019/

 

[MTN REMODEL LLC]

As though a licensed contractor will not rip off homeowners - really?
These are an easy way for the local LEO's to boost their numbers without having to actually do any police work.

The entire state of Florida is the fraud capital of the world, considerabley outdoing even Nigeria. This is well known and so the state attracts criminals as they know that the odds of their being brought to trial by a local prosecuter are zero. But it is easier to go after a handyman who is helping the elderly with affordable repairs than to go after the banksters and real estate swindlers and identity theft perpetrators.


We truly have two very different sets of laws in this country. A handyman shows up to install a smoke detector and they get arrested while the likes of Wells Fargo can steal 2 million homes with illegal robo foreclosures and put people out on the streets and none of their people go to jail.

Oh come-on.....Is this nanny-state now protecting the "unsuspecting consumer" from derelict painters and tilers....while CARLSON points out there is significant/material crime left un-pursued.

Does licensing assure , or even correlate to competancy ...or honesty. NO

Its a revenue grab......adding a layer of unnecessary and inefectual costs onto the public......... and a waste of policing resources.

Yes, I agree with electrical licensing because of the inherent danger and that licensing is predicated on at least testing of the applicant....which incidentally does not insure that applicant does not take "a shortcut" nor overcharge a customer.

But that in itself brings up the practical aspect of permitting. Is it reasonable to have to call (and pay) an electrician to replace a loose receptical and pull a permit. Now you have created the incentive for a homeowner/resident to avoid those costs and act on there own.....and we all know some of the electrical atrocities that can create.

The hypocracy of our enforcement actions is sometimes unfathomable and irrational.

THANKS CARLSON

 

[Nik333]

The CSLB regularly conducts sting operations, not just in disaster areas.
Here are the 2019 press releases. Most of them concern stings. You just don’t generally see them unless one is near you.
https://www.cslb.ca.gov/Media_Room/Press_Releases/2019/

I think it's very hard to find a good contractor up here, for small jobs. I feel for the many people who are trying to rebuild their homes.

I was spoiled in Hawaii. Lots of guys coming to Paradise (Hawaii) that need work. I had a great painter, inexpensive but very good, especially at the vaulted ceilings. But, I didn't know about license laws.


I had one really weird older guy who kept trying to talk to me about a woman who had been murdered in her home. After I watched him work, I decided to do the teak parquet floors myself. I found it was easy for me.

 

[ZZZZZ]

I have an ideological problem with the entire concept of "government licensing." A person shouldn't need permission from politicians and bureaucrats and pay often large fees to get a license to earn a living.

A license doesn't prove much of anything concerning the abilities of the contractor.

A much better way to "control" contractors and handymen is through private certification and public feedback from verified customers through Home Adviser, Angie's List etc.

In my area unlicensed contractors are pretty much free to work as they please, so long as they don't misrepresent themselves as licensed.
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[MTN REMODEL LLC]

I have an ideological problem with the entire concept of "government licensing." A person shouldn't need permission from politicians and bureaucrats and pay often large fees to get a license to earn a living.

A license doesn't prove much of anything concerning the abilities of the contractor.

A much better way to "control" contractors and handymen is through private certification and public feedback from verified customers through Home Adviser, Angie's List etc.

In my area unlicensed contractors are pretty much free to work as they please, so long as they don't misrepresent themselves as licensed.
.
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Public feedback is probably our very best regulatory mechanism.

I don't know how familiar you might be with E-bay, but their regulatory "licensing" certification, qualification of sellers is nothing more than a very well modeled immedaite and honest feedback system. AND IT WORKS GREAT.

I sorta don't technically agree with ZZZZZ as regards the internet feedback models of Home Advisor or Angies....as they are based on a business revenue model that perhaps conflicts with integrity and honest feedback. Home Advisor collects money from the contractor forreferrals....inherent conflict.

I can't believe Im saying this.....BUT maybe our public entities (government or consumer protection agencies), should spend some of our tax dollars on providing a national "registery" of consumer feedback. This is now feasable with the internet.

Yelp comes close, but I think it's revenue model is advertising and it is of limited extent.

What if there was one source on the internet, where you could see customer reviews of your attorney, your doctor, your car dealeer, your handyman.

I'm not sure there is a good private model that reasonably needs profit that can provide that. Yes, there would have be designed procedure to insure integrity/honesty of the reviews...but I don't think that would be insolvable.

Just a thought....

 

[ZZZZZ]

Word of mouth and personal recommendations are the best source of info, so long as it based on independent arms-length experience.

The best advice is always "caveat emptor."
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[LanterDan]

I'm confused here. The article refers to them as "con-men" and several of the posts here refer to them as "preying on" and "ripping off" consumers. I'm not sure if there slopping reporting here, but I didn't see anything about them taking money and not performing work or of mis-representing themselves as being licensed (or mis-representing their insurance status).

Is doing work without licence that requires it illegal? Yes. Does it deserve an arrest? I'm not sure, I'm inclined to think a fine is more appropriate for a first offense (from the article only 8 of the 118 were repeat offenders). May depend on the type of work. Does doing that make someone a con-man? Not unless something is intentionally done to deceive. I think we sometimes forget that words have meaning.

The article also says that several of those arrested were originally hired to perform work that didn't require a license, but once they were onsite they were talked into doing additional work that did, in some cases needing to be asked more than once.

 

[Mystriss]

Ya'll aren't seeing the real picture.

Licensing offenses make fines that go to the city coffers.

 

[fireguy]

https://www.oregon.gov/CCB/Pages/buyer-beware.aspx

Go one, hire one of those guys. It is amazing how many contractors are not legal. But having a license is not proof of competency. I am thinking of a fire alarm company, who has ignored a broken audio/visual device for 3 years. But hey, it is just a small school, no big deal. I called the Contractor's Board. I was told I needed to prove the company did not have a license to work in Oregon. Now that I am properly upset, I can split more fire wood.

 

[MTN REMODEL LLC]

Ya'll aren't seeing the real picture.

Licensing offenses make fines that go to the city coffers.

They accomplish virtually nothing for the consumer....except increased costs to the consumer (forcing more unpermitted HO work)..... but they do pad the gov revenues and shore up their retirement programs..

 

[MTN REMODEL LLC]

Ya'll aren't seeing the real picture.

Licensing offenses make fines that go to the city coffers.

They accomplish virtually nothing for the consumer....except increased costs to the consumer (forcing more unpermitted HO work)..... but they do pad the gov revenues and shore up city gov retirement programs..

 

[JayDoesIt]

Around here most licensed contractors just sell jobs, then they hire a sub contract worker, often unlicensed to perform the work, so they can collect half of the money while only collecting the checks and writing the bids and pulling permits.

 

[Mystriss]

They accomplish virtually nothing for the consumer....except increased costs to the consumer (forcing more unpermitted HO work)..... but they do pad the gov revenues and shore up their retirement programs..

Of course, its way easier to sell "gov needs tax businesses to give you stuffz" then it is to "hey voter, /you/ need to give me more money for that stuffz" The reality is that "hey voter" is indeed giving them more money for that stuffz, there's just a few more middlemen in the way. I call it "vote laundering" heh

 

[ChuckTin]

Here in Florida, aka the Disney suburbs, there are a lot of gypsy handyman ripoffs. A pickup truck will cruise the streets of a housing development, usually mid morning or mid afternoon, stopping to "sell" to homeowners. Sometimes painting, sometimes tree trimming, occasionally "rustic" furniture (the ones I've seen). It's easy for friendly people to fall for the scam. And you also need to realize that papers publish these stories to fill pages. That doesn't make the stories less true but does shine a different light on them.