-
Sep 19, 2006 11:31 pm US/Eastern
-
Digg |
Facebook |
E-mail
|
Print
CBS 2 Investigates: Ex-Con Contractors
Former Guests Of The State May Be In Your House
by Kirstin Cole
(CBS)
A homeowner, we'll call her Amy to protect her real identity, was recently terrorized after a construction project. "I felt unsafe, had to change my alarm, had my locks changed, it was uncomfortable," she said.
The phone calls started just weeks after a run-in at her home.
She hired a contractor to put up an addition. Although he had the proper licenses and passed town and county background checks, what Amy didn't know that many of his sub-contractor's workers, didn't. And one afternoon, she said things went too far.
"I smelled pot and I called the boss, the work was shoddy, they made me uncomfortable, and I don't want them back at the house, it smelled like they were smoking pot," Amy said.
After the threatening phone calls, Amy called police, only to make the unnerving discovery about the man who had complete access to her home.
"Detectives told me he had done five years in Fishkill and had nine prior drug arrests."
That's right. A worker who was hired by Amy's general contractor, and had complete access to her home, had made the months of harassing phone calls, out of revenge.
It's not unusual. That's why Nassau County's Commissioner of Consumer Affairs said they aggressively check backgrounds to protect homeowners. "Any time you let someone into your home, you become very vulnerable," said Commissioner Roger Bogstead.
Yet too often it's only the main, general contractor who's checked according to security consultant, Steve Browand.
This can leave dozens of workers with checkered pasts roaming your home. So, it's up to homeowners to do their own investigation. "If you really want to know the individual laborers that you have working, you can request that the general contractor put it in his contract that his subcontractors have fulfilled the same requirements that he must fulfill, that they are licensed, that they are insured," explained Browand.
Bottom line, find out what exactly your municipality checks out.
To do your own credit and criminal background check, you'll need written permission. Browand also suggests placing a nanny-cam in your home to keep an eye on workers.
Reputable general contractors, he said, will probably not give you the lowest bid and contracts that are any less than 10 pages long. Browand also said you insist that the contractor be on site, in your home, to supervise his or her employees.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)