A Gilroy man accused of running a painting business without a
license was arrested while working with his crew in an east Morgan
Hill neighborhood Thursday morning, and city officials and police
caution homeowners to be aware of similar scams as tough economic
times continue.
A Gilroy man accused of running a painting business without a license was arrested while working with his crew in an east Morgan Hill neighborhood Thursday morning, and city officials and police caution homeowners to be aware of similar scams as tough economic times continue.
Martin Madrid, 34, is accused of contracting without a license, advertising for construction work without a license, using a license number with the intent to defraud, and a city code violation, according to Morgan Hill Police Sgt. Jerry Neumayer. He was arrested at a residence on the 1400 block of Majorca Drive, where he was working on an exterior paint job about 9 a.m. After being booked and cited at the police station, he was released, Neumayer said.
About six of Madrid’s employees stood in a line in front of the home’s garage while police handcuffed Madrid and checked the other painters’ backgrounds for outstanding warrants. The owner of the residence, who declined to give her name or comment on the record, was talking amicably with the workers, who were soon cleared and released without being cited or booked.
Neumayer said Madrid, who was running a business known as Santa Barbara Painting, has also worked on at least one other home in Morgan Hill in the last couple of months.
Most construction contractors have to be licensed by the California Department of Consumer Affairs, Morgan Hill building official Ken Deluna said. He said Thursday’s arrest was part of a joint investigation by the city and local police, initiated by a series of anonymous complaints from other homeowners who called the city’s code enforcement office.
As household financial situations have worsened in recent months, leading homeowners to be more eager to accept a good deal and unemployed people more desperate to find work, Deluna said similar incidents have become common in Morgan Hill.
Police arrested a Morgan Hill man twice last summer for operating without a license, and one of the DCA’s “most wanted” unlicensed contractors did a job in Morgan Hill earlier this week near Main Avenue and Calle Viento, Deluna said. Police are still looking for Michael L. Fano, who has operated illegitimately in Riverside and San Joaquin counties as well, police said.
Deluna said unlicensed contractors hurt the consumer most of all because they perform shoddy or unfinished work, and leave the homeowner with no one to turn to if they get ripped off.
“They come in and take money up front, they do the job for a quarter or a third of the cost of a licensed contractor, and it hurts the legitimate contractors,” Deluna said. “It has to be a level playing field, or the consumer suffers.”
In Thursday’s case, Deluna said Madrid was mixing water with the paint he was using to coat the outside of the home, allowing him to spend less on material but likely resulting in a poor paint job that won’t last as long as properly done work. In the other case this week, Deluna said city inspectors found that a newly completed concrete job suspected to have been done by Fano already showed cracking and a lack of protective finish. He said the concrete will likely have to be torn out and completely redone, possibly costing the homeowner thousands of dollars.
Many unlicensed contractors are from out of town, and they come to places like Morgan Hill on a “whirlwind” spree for a couple of weeks, taking deposits from unsuspecting customers, performing partial jobs and leaving.
Neumayer added that sometimes a homeowner knows a contractor is unlicensed but they allow them to do a job anyway.
“The problem is, if they do something out of code or they damage something, they’re going to be on their own, because odds are (the unlicensed operators) don’t have any sort of insurance,” he said.
According to information on the DCA’s web site, any contractor who charges more than $500 for a job must be licensed by the state. Some of the requirements for a license include passing a test and posting a $12,500 bond up front to cover any claim for property damage or injury caused by the contractor.
Deluna noted that license holders are easy to look up by business name or the owner’s name on the DCA’s web site, www.dca.ca.gov. Legitimate contractors should also be able to present a “pocket license” when asked by homeowners, and license numbers are always six digits.
Neumayer added that police have received numerous complaints of contractors and solicitors going door to door offering to do work or sell something in Morgan Hill neighborhoods, and he expects such complaints and unlicensed attempts to continue as long as the economic situation deteriorates.
“They almost feel like they’re being pressured into accepting their work,” Neumayer said.
