4 Cited in Sting by Contractors Board

State and city officials took aim at unlicensed contractors with a sting operation Wednesday.

Working out of a vacant house on Nimitz Drive and using newspaper ads placed by suspected unlicensed contractors, officials with the Contractors State License Board, state Department of Consumer Affairs and the city of Oxnard invited bids on a fictional job.

By early afternoon, they had cited four people on suspicion of contracting work without a license, authorities said. The law requires unlicensed contractors to identify themselves as such on their business cards and perform only work worth less than $300.

Some contractors had bid more than the $300 limit and others were using someone else’s license, authorities said.

The state license board conducts at least one sting per month in the state. Oxnard is a hot spot for unlicensed contractors and related consumer complaints, investigators said.