HELP me find a BAD CONTRACTOR.

In March 2001 we had a bathroom renovated. All the paperwork the contractor showed us seemed in order. The day he finished I was out of town. My husband went ahead and paid him not knowing I had told the contractor I would pay him when I returned home and checked things. You can NOT IMAGINE THE HORRIFIC MESS he has left us with. Some repairs had to be made immediatedly because they were emergencies. I immediatedly called the bank to stop the check but he had gone from our home and cashed it. I have no idea how we can afford to fix some of the mess until we can recover some of the money. In trying to locate him we have found that ALL the paperwork he showed us was a FRAUD. He has NO, contractors license, No business license and NO insurance in VIRGINIA. His phone is UNLISTED so I cannot locate an address. the only information I have besides his phone ( he will not return calls) is HIS LICENSE NUMBER on his truck. I have been to the Commonwealth Attorney and Police and they cannot trace it because it VIOLATES HIS RIGHTS. We cannot afford to hire a private detective, I am disabled and my husband is very seriously ill. Does anyone no how in the state of VIRGINIA with an UNLISTED PHONE NUMBER or AUTO LICENSE NUMBER you can trace someone's home address. We cannot even serve him with papers. Please help!

Regretfully, with the extent of the 'contractors' fraud (fake license, etc), it sounds like you have more than just a 'bad contractor', and are probably a victim of a 'home repair fraud', also called 'gypsy fraud'. These are crimes carried out (usually against the elderly) where a 'contractor' performs some or all the work (or 'needs money for materials'), collects payment and then runs to the bank before the homeowner finds out that the work was done very poorly, if done at all.

So, before you go out and spend a lot of money and time trying to "serve him with papers", you need to find out if the contractor was a scam. If he was, then you have little, if any, chance of ever serving him with papers, or even collecting if he were served.

I suggest the following:
1) Call your local police department and make a complaint. Even though the rest of his papers were bogus, you at least have a license plate number. The police can 'run the tag' very easily and let you know if there were other 'victims'.
2) If the contractor had 'unlimited access' to other areas of the house, check to make sure that other items are not missing. Favorite items to take are: cameras, guns, jewelry, checks, bank books, etc. Anything that is easy to carry and sell.
3) Gather all your evidence now. Take pictures or video of the 'repairs' done or damages.
4) On the off-chance that you are able to get a name or address on this guy, contact your local and state licensing agencies. It is possible that this guy has a 'history'.
5) Finally, call your BBB. Your neighbor may be calling 'them' to investigate 'your' con artist.


To learn more about this 'repair fraud', click on:
http://www.ag.state.il.us/publications/avoidhomerepair.htm
http://www.stretcher.com/stories/960415b.htm
http://www.ag.uiuc.edu/~vista/pdf_pubs/RPRFRAUD.PDF
http://www.safetyalerts.com/t/g/homerep.htm
http://www.vitalco.net/Scam/HOMEREPAIRFRAUD.html