By Paul Tuthill
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wamc/local-wamc-986492.mp3
Worcester, MA – Consumer experts warn that natural disasters, such as the recent floods, are magnets for unscrupulous home improvement contractors. The Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation has announced results of a sting operation. WAMC's Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill reports.
Barbara Anthony, the head of the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation says a bad home improvement job in a nightmare.
Staffers from Anthony's office, for several weeks in July, scoured ads posted on Craigslist offering home improvement work in western and central Massachusetts. They flagged 44 ads from unregistered contractors. The consumer office staff answered the ads, posing as owners of a tornado damaged home in Brimfield. Anthony says the contractors got off with a warning..this time.
Anthony says unlicensed contractors can face administrative hearings that can result in fines of up to 2 thousand dollars per violation, but she concedes the home improvement contractor industry is difficult to police and that puts most of the onus on homeowners to take precautions to avoid being ripped off
Anthony said her office would prefer if Craigslist did not accept ads from un-licensed contractors.
The consumer affairs office in Massachusetts maintains a database of registered contractors that includes complaints that have been filed. Since the June First tornadoes, Anthony says inquiries to her office about home improvement contractors have increased, but complaints, so far, have not.
Given the extent of the damage from the tornadoes that occurred a little more than three months ago, Anthony said she would not expect most home repairs to have been completed yet. Repairs to the damage caused by Irene would not have even started in most cases.
Anthony said homeowners who wind up dissatisfied with a repair project can seek arbitration through the consumer affairs office or litigation in the courts. There are also mediation programs, funded by the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office. One such program is operated at the Molly Bish Center at Anna Maria College, where Jay Gardiner is the director
As last resort, people can claim restitution up to ten thousand dollars from a state fund, but only if they employed a registered contractor.