{"id":66637,"date":"2024-08-13T11:05:04","date_gmt":"2024-08-13T18:05:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=66637"},"modified":"2024-08-13T11:05:04","modified_gmt":"2024-08-13T18:05:04","slug":"sting-operation-busts-15-unlicensed-contractors-in-monterey-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=66637","title":{"rendered":"Sting Operation\u00a0Busts 15 Unlicensed Contractors in Monterey\u00a0County"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sacramento, CA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013<\/strong>\u00a0The Contractors State License Board (CSLB) recently teamed up with the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office and the California Department of Insurance for an undercover sting operation targeting unlicensed contractors.<\/p>\n

In late July, the sting operation in Seaside resulted in 15 people getting Notices to Appear in criminal court for allegedly contracting without a proper license, including one person who had been caught during a June 2022 sting. All bids received exceed California’s $500 threshold that requires a contractor\u2019s license. The highest bid received was $10,500 for a fencing project,<\/p>\n

The individual who requested the $10,500 for fencing had also requested an excessive down payment of $3,500. He was among three who requested excessive down payments. Under California law, contractors can request no more than 10 percent of the project cost or $1,000, whichever is less. Violating this provision is a misdemeanor offense, punishable by fines of up to $5,000, a one-year county jail sentence, or both.<\/p>\n

Additionally, one person could face a felony charge for advertising under a deceased relative’s license.<\/p>\n

Contracting without a license can result in administrative fines up to $15,000 and may lead to misdemeanor charges carrying penalties of up to six months in jail and a criminal fine of $5,000.<\/p>\n

These individuals may also face additional charges for illegal advertisements. California law requires unlicensed contractors to state their unlicensed status and prohibits them from bidding on jobs over $500, including labor and materials.<\/p>\n

One individual was issued a Stop Order for not providing workers\u2019 compensation insurance to employees, risking misdemeanor charges and penalties, including up to 60 days in jail and\/or $10,000 in fines.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important to hire licensed contractors for home improvement projects,” said David Fogt, CSLB Registrar. \u201cThat\u2019s why CSLB educates consumers on how to protect themselves by hiring a licensed contractor \u2013 it takes just a few minutes to\u00a0find a licensed contractor<\/a>\u00a0in California.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information, visit CSLB\u2019s\u00a0website<\/a>, or connect with us on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0X\/Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0Instagram<\/a>, and\u00a0YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sacramento, CA\u00a0\u2013\u00a0The Contractors State License Board...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ca-local"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=66637"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66637\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66638,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66637\/revisions\/66638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=66637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=66637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=66637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}