OFF THE WIRE
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California suffers from one of the highest unemployment rates in the
nation and the state is under court order to release 10,000 inmates, yet
state agents are jailing people who manage to find home-improvement
work. After placing ads on Craigslist, California State License Board
investigators go undercover posing as homeowners, when landscapers,
painters, and other contractors show up, the agents give them the “To
Catch a Predator” treatment.
CSLB recently announced that agents from the Statewide Investigative
Fraud Team (otherwise known by the tough-sounding acronym SWIFT) had
completed operation “California Blitz.” SWIFTers busted 79 perps for
contracting without a license, and if convicted, they could face $5,000
in fines and up to six months in jail. Fifty-two face additional fines
for illegal advertising, and thirteen may be charged with requesting an
excessive down payment, which can result in 60 days in jail and/or up to
$10,000 in fines. SWIFT routinely conducts large-scale sting operations
and proudly posts footage of the busts online. And since California is
the nation’s second-most extensively and onerously licensed state (as
noted by an Institute for Justice report), agents always have plenty of
targets.
“CSLB and its partners in law enforcement are serious about enforcing
California’s consumer protection laws,” says says CSLB Registrar Steve
Sands. “Unlicensed, illegal activity that puts homeowners at risk and
legitimate contractors at a competitive disadvantage will not be
tolerated.”
-Matt Edwards
