Ashes Are Con Artists’ Gold Mine : Rebuilding: Fires invite illicit contractors and quick-buck operators, as evidenced by recent disasters in the U.S.

While a major disaster can bring out the best in people, in some it brings out the worst.

With hundreds of Southern Californians already victims of fires ravaging 115,000 acres and nearly 600 homes, in the confusing days that follow, these people are especially vulnerable to becoming victims again--this time by con artists and fraudulent contractors.

“We’ve seen this time and time again throughout the state, after earthquakes and after the Oakland hills fire,” said Louis Bonsignore, spokesman for the state Department of Consumer Affairs in Sacramento. “Every time there is a disaster, scam artists view this as prime time to make a quick buck. It keeps legitimate California businesses from getting the work they rightly deserve.”

After other major disasters, unlicensed building contractors, some working out of pickup trucks from states as far away as Oklahoma, have descended upon California, accepting deposits for repair work and then disappearing with the money.

Other scams have come from people offering a quick and easy way to get disaster relief; others involve phony homeowners insurance services, according to Lona Luckett, director of operations for the Better Business Bureau’s Orange County office in Cypress.

After both the 1991 Oakland hills fire, which destroyed about 2,900 homes, and last year’s Florida hurricanes that leveled 47,000 residences, con artists published ads promising lists of hundreds of rebuilding jobs for only $50. All the hopeful worker received was a list of construction companies, Luckett said.

For fire victims, the most common scams involve unlicensed contractors who promise to rebuild or repair a home, but don’t perform quality work or walk away after taking a sizable deposit.

“People who have lost a home are so vulnerable they forget to act like a good consumer. They forget to ask for a contractor’s license number, for references or to make sure there’s a California license plate on the back of the contractor’s truck,” said Bonsignore.

There are several ways for fire victims to protect themselves, said Paula Watkins, Southern California regional director of the Contractors State License Board.

Most importantly, victims should make sure a contractor is licensed with the state and ask whether any disciplinary actions are pending against the company. If the contractor is not licensed, it won’t have Workers’ Compensation Insurance, which means that if a worker is injured on your property, you are liable. Also, no matter how small the repair job is, get every agreement in writing, she said.

Especially vulnerable are people who need only relatively minor home repairs, because dishonest contractors will appear promising to rebuild part of the house for low, low prices only available that day, she said.

“My theory is that if it sounds too good to be true, it is,” said Watkins.

After the Oakland fire, contractors and building-material suppliers poured into the area promising low-cost work, underbidding local companies. Unfortunately, some of these contractors performed shoddy work or collected more money than they put into a project and walked away with the balance, said Richard Glaser an anesthesiologist who lost his home in the Oakland fire.

Because losing a home puts someone in such a helpless position, they often want to recover quickly from the loss by immediately rebuilding. In this state of mind, a victim is susceptible to con artists.

“They rush and get new loans they can’t afford, or they go to the first contractor they see. They’ll do anything they can to regain control over their lives,” said Dr. Steven Schandler, a psychology professor at Chapman University.