The contractors are accused of such violations as using license numbers of other contractors, being caught a second time without licenses or having other felony warrants, said Rick Lopes, a spokesman for the Contractors State Licensing Board. The penalty for repeat violations is 90 days in jail and fines up to $4,500, he said.

The arrests highlighted one of the most pervasive problems in the state’s multibillion-dollar construction industry — the presence of thousands of unlicensed contractors who underbid legal operators and sometimes bilk homeowners out of large sums of money for work that goes unfinished.

Many are repeat offenders who fail to appear when charged or fall through the cracks of a strained justice system and keep on bidding, especially in newer neighborhoods needing backyards, patios and decks.

“Why do they keep doing it? Their profit margin is a lot bigger. That’s why they keep doing it,” said Rick Villucci, lead investigator on the Elk Grove sting.

Officers in Elk Grove arrested contractors Fernando Chavez and Jorge Enriquez of Sacramento and Rigoberto Rodriguez-Navarro of Elk Grove on suspicion of being unlicensed repeat offenders, said the CSLB, which regulates an estimated 305,000 contractors statewide.

Officers also arrested Sacramento contractors Joe Huber for having three traffic warrants, Shawn McCool for having a no bail warrant from Santa Clara County and Scott Miller for having a no bail warrant from Placer County. Contractor Randy Nab of Citrus Heights was arrested on suspicion of working with a revoked license.

The Elk Grove sting netted nine other individuals: One of them, José Garcia of Sacramento, was arrested because he had insufficient identification and received a notice to appear in Sacramento Superior Court to face misdemeanor charges of not having a license.

Eight others, mostly alleged to be first-time offenders, also received notices for court appearances on misdemeanor charges of unlicensed contracting: Antelope contractor Pavel Timofeyev and Sacramento contractors Brian Bader, Veaceslav Damaschin, Gerald Ingham, Tonya McGuire, Francisco Peña, Ernesto Rangel and Myron Thomas.

In a separate incident in Rocklin, David Lucchesi of Sacramento was arrested and faces a felony charge of using another contractor’s license number and forging signatures on documents for a building project. He was arrested Monday after city officials confirmed the discrepancy.

“It’s definitely a serious matter to go to that extent to use someone else’s license,” said Pete Guisasola, chief building official of the City of Rocklin.

The Elk Grove sting came just weeks after CSLB agents arrested 36 contractors in Woodland and West Sacramento for working without licenses. An operation in Elk Grove last February snared 32 alleged illegal contractors.

“It’s huge. The underground economy is astronomical,” said Michael Phillips, owner of Roseville-based Landscapes West Inc.

The CSLB, a branch of the State Department of Consumer Affairs, cites numerous cases of consumers taken in by lower bids from unlicensed contractors who aren’t insured for their jobs, don’t pay workers’ compensation or don’t pass state contractor tests.

Villucci said staffers invited suspected illegal contractors to make bids after checking out their ads. State law requires contractors to list license numbers in ads, but many don’t or use phony numbers, he said.

The CSLB urges consumers to ask contractors for license numbers and verify them on the board’s Web site at www.cslb.ca.gov, or call its automated phone service at 1-800-321-2752.

For further reading regarding liens and how they can effect you and your property, please read Eddy Martinez, Loan Officer an Active Rain blogger:

• Liens
• Mechanic Liens I
• Mechanic Liens II

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 16th, 2006 at 7:57 am and is filed under Home Buyer, Placer County, Real Estate, Real Estate Tips, Remodel, Sacramento, Sacramento County, Seller. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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