Sting Operation in Glendale Targets Unlicensed Contractors

Augustin Renteria’s ad seemed to be working. He got a call asking him to bid on a house-painting job in Glendale.

On Tuesday morning, he walked around the outside of the vacant house at 800 E. Elk St. and jotted down his bid of $1,100 on a scrap of paper and handed it to the man.

That’s when his trouble began. He was handcuffed and brought into a makeshift booking area in the house’s detached garage. Renteria was cited for not having a contractor’s license in one the Contractors State License Board’s ongoing sting operations.

He was one of 10 unlicensed workers swept up in the sting Tuesday. State law requires anyone who performs home repairs such as painting and roofing that are estimated to cost $500 or more, including both labor and material costs, to have a contractor’s license.

Six were issued notices to appear in court because they were unlicensed and placed bids of $500 or more; four others will be cited for lesser violations, including advertising without a listed license number or stating the contractor is unlicensed, said Ralph Hollier, supervising investigator for the Contractors State License Board. Fines range from $500 to $15,000.

“Our laws are very simple,” Hollier said. “Either you have a license or not.”

To crack down on unlicensed contractors, license board investigators have conducted two or three sting operations a month throughout California since 1989, Hollier said.

In preparation for Tuesday’s sting, investigators located 15 unlicensed contractors through newspaper advertisements and called them to bid on an array of home repairs, Hollier said. The contractors were invited to the vacant house to survey and make bids for the work. Those who placed bids of $500 or more and did not have licenses were cited on state law violations.

Each unlicensed contractor was handcuffed by Glendale police officers and searched. Their names were run through police computers to check for warrants and other violations. If there were none, they were issued notices to appear in court and released.

With each citation, the men also were offered applications for contractors’ licenses and encouraged to use them. “We want you to become licensed contractors,” an investigator told one of the men.

Renteria, 39, of Temple City, said he lost his job after being convicted of driving under the influence and began painting houses for money. He never bothered to get licensed, he said, because he thought it was too expensive.

But a license costs less than the fine for not having one. It costs $250 to take the contractor test and $150 for a two-year license, Hollier said. The minimum fine is $500.

Ramon Arechiga got caught by license board authorities for the second time Tuesday. He said he paid a $750 fine for landscaping after the Northridge earthquake and began attending contractors school. But the 50-year-old Reseda resident hasn’t graduated yet. And he still has no license.

Besides Renteria and Arechiga, the other unlicensed contractors cited Tuesday were Nikola Radic, 50, of Los Angeles; Howard F. Lancaster, 53, of La Puente; Patrick Gunn, 55, of West Covina, and Juzenteino B. Jimenez, 43, of Los Angeles.

Tuesday’s sting was held in connection with a seminar being held today to help senior citizens learn to protect themselves against scam artists.

The Senior Scam Stoppers Seminar will be from 1:30 to 3 p.m. at a Glendale adult recreation center at 201 E. Colorado St.