|
CONTRACTORS UNDER INVESTIGATION
J.C. Morris & Thomas LLC dba: The Real Cornerstone Construction - Magazine Street, New Orleans, LA
Andrew Morris (Andy) (Member/Agent), J.C. Morris, and Jason Thomas (Member/Electrician)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you believe that you have been the victim of "Contractor Fraud" this information should help you to get started in the process of filing complaints with the State General Attorney, the police department, and the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors. If your contractor is found guilty of contractor fraud, it is possible that you could recover your loss if it is made part of the sentencing in the criminal case. Of course there is no guarantees that this would be done, or that the contractor has the will or means to pay back your loss. If your loss is substantial enough, you may want to consider contacting an attorney that will be able to advise you of your chances of winning a civil case against the contractor. The civil case would deal specifically with trying to get your money back as opposed to the criminal case. Steps you can take for filing criminal complaints are found below:
1. File a complaint with the Attorney General's Office. Charles C. Foti. You can file the complaint online, or you can simple call the Attorney General's office in Baton Rouge (1-800-351-4889). An investigator will take all of your complaint information, so be prepared with names, dates, amounts, and some details before you call. You will then most likely be asked to mail or fax copies of information, including a copy of any contract, receipts or copies of checks that were made to the contractor, and also payments made to correct or finish any work done by your original contractor that might be helpful to the investigator. You should consider providing an outline of things that occurred with your contractor and include names and contact information of anyone that you feel might help the investigation.
2. If your property is located in Orleans Parish, you can go to the District Police Station where the property is located and advise the on-duty officer that you wish to file a complaint against a contractor. Be sure to have all of your paperwork in order when you go. You may be able to meet with a detective then, or an appointment for a detective will be made for a later date. The detective will look over your information and take an investigative report (police report) from you. An arrest warrant could eventually be issued for your contractor.
3. If your contractor violated certain standards set by the licensing board in the performance of the job, you can notify the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors. For example, if you find out that your contractor does not have current workman compensation or general liability insurance policies in place, you should file a complaint. (The contractor is required to have this coverage) It is possible that your contractor did have insurance at one time, but then it is canceled. If the State Licensing Board does not have notification of this cancellation, then you should file a complaint here or you can call their office to make the complaint. You can ask this office to provide you with the name and phone number of the insurance company that they have on file for the contractor, and then you can call the insurance company directly to verify that the policies are current and the coverage amounts.
If you need any additional information, or wish to share your experience in dealing with a contractor suspected of contractor fraud, please feel free to Contact Me Here
|