3 Alleged Unlicensed Contractors Jailed

Three men were charged with of working as unlicensed contractors on Friday, after they were arrested during a sting operation at a North Hills home damaged during the Northridge earthquake.

An investigator with the state Contractor’s Licensing Board posed as a homeowner March 2 and summoned the three men to the home to make repairs, Deputy City Atty. Don Cocek said.

All three were charged with contracting without a license after preparing estimates during the sting, Cocek said.

Moshe Herscovitz, a 46-year-old Sherman Oaks man, allegedly used license numbers that belonged to other contractors. He advertised in the Yellow Pages, Cocek said.

James William Kiser, 38, of North Hills, was charged with demanding a down payment in excess of the legal limit.

Cocek said contractors can only charge 10% of the total estimate--with a $1,000 cap--before work is started. Kiser allegedly asked the investigator for a $2,000 down payment to replace a wall in a job estimated to cost a total of $3,500.

Felix Cisneros, a 23-year-old South-Central Los Angeles resident, was also charged with demanding too large a down payment, in his case half of an $8,900 estimate to replace a wall.

All three are scheduled to be arraigned in Van Nuys Municipal Court April 18.