CA Licensed Contractors Board sting nets 30 fake contractors

ORINDA, Calif. (KGO) -- The state contractors' board announced the results of a sting to catch unlicensed contractors in the Bay Area, including those offering to install drought-tolerant landscaping.

In Contra Costa County Wednesday state and county officials showed off the results of a sting designed to catch people posing as contractors. They made 105 arrests statewide, but there is one local man still at large and doing damage.

For people searching for an inexpensive fix to their yard or home, it's best to be cautious.

Bill and June McCord of Orinda learned a costly lesson. A man claiming to be contractor approached them and offered to help with a beetle infestation of the magnolia tree that used to be in their front yard.

"He said, I can correct it and he said I'll charge you $600," Bill McCord said.

June McCord said she became suspicious when all of a sudden the phone calls to the contractor weren't answered.

The so-called contractor goes by multiple names in Contra Costa County. Deputy district attorney Bill Murphy knows most of them. "It's either Adan, or Adam and the last name can be Contreras or Rivas,"

In addition to taking the McCord' s money, the district attorney wants him in 19 other cases for defrauding customers without doing the work.

"The total we have so far $62,000. I believe it's higher," Murphy said.

Mr. Rivas, or Contreras, became the poster boy Wednesday in a statewide sting of unlicensed contractors.

In Contra Costa County and in the South Bay, the California Contractors License Board set up in a house, made appointments, took bids, and in the Bay Area, made 30 arrests on people posing as contractors for services ranging from drought maintenance to painting.

To protect yourself, ask for a contractor's license and check it on the state contractors board website and never pay more than 10 percent in advance, not even for materials.

"The slick salesperson is what happens all too often. These people are expert at separating you from their money," said Rick Lopes or the Contractor's License Board.

Even people as savvy and experienced as the McCords.