Pinellas County Florida - Contractors, Licensed or Unlicensed?
In this economy, how is anyone supposed to make money?
The economic crimes unit of the Clearwater Police arrested 6 people for unlicensed contracting, last week. Allegedly, these arrests are to protect the public from shoddy work. The cops went out and requested bids and then arrested the people once the bids were given for contracting without a license. WHICH IS A MISDEMEANOR, not to mention bordering on entrapment by the police.
Just so everyone is clear, most work done on your house requires someone to pull a permit. The permit costs money, and only the homeowner or a licensed contractor can pull one. The county and city allegedly want to control the work done on your house to protect the public and make sure your house is safe. Allegedly this is to protect the public from shoddy workmanship, but we all know this is merely another way for the government to collect money.
Let's face it. Regardless of the economy, people still have to pay someone when their house needs to be fixed. Does it matter if someone has a license? I don't think so. Years ago, I owned a house in St. Petersburg and a licensed contractor named Dean Jarvis , doing business as Florida Renovators, charged me an OUTRAGEOUS sum of money to fix my roof. It was during the summer and it should have been no surprise to Jarvis or his subcontractors that it might rain at night. Did they cover the roof??? Heck no, and it poured rain causing water to come through the ceiling into all of the light fixtures, short out the electric, and wreck the ORGINAL hardwood floors and walls of this 1920's historic home. A lot of good it did me to hire a licensed contractor. Then, the jerk had the GALL to put a lien on my house for work not paid for. Note that had he not been a "licensed" contractor, he never could have filed a lien.
I called the Bureau of Professional Regulation, the consumer fraud division of the Pinellas County Sheriff, the St. Petersburg Police, and guess who helped me? NO ONE. I had to hire a lawyer to get all this fixed as well as another contractor.
The point is - if no one regulates the contractors who are licensed, what protection do consumers have? None. So these guys who were just trying to make a buck, are arrested for not having a license. Yet those with a license are allowed to destroy people's homes with no regulation. What's wrong with this picture?
