New Jersey Finds 124 Unregistered Post-Sandy Contractors

March 6, 2013

  • March 6, 2013 at 1:48 pm
    paul says:
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    in flori duh, we call these guys fly by night! the fine them and run them out. jersey is too nice giving them a warning.

  • March 6, 2013 at 2:41 pm
    Agent2 says:
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    Unregistered contractors can cause almost as much damage as government officials!

  • March 7, 2013 at 9:03 am
    Roland says:
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    “Eric Kanefsky, the agency’s acting director, says homeowners should make sure a company is registered before hiring them to do any work.”
    No, no, no. Government registration is the cause of these problems, not the solution. When homeowners think the government is looking out for them, they will always be less diligent in checking out a contractor. Surely the government wouldn’t let these guys take advantage of me! This mindset has become so entrenched in the Land of the Free that Americans can’t imagine letting individuals decide for themselves whom they will do business with.
    In the absence of preemptive regulation and licensing by government, consumers would have no doubt that they would have to look out for themselves. And private entities would spring up – each with economic incentives to serve consumers – to certify contractors and help homeowners avoid being ripped off. Those entities would compete with one another, and would go out of business if they didn’t do the job. Government, on the other hand, never goes out of business, it just says, “Boo hoo, we don’t have enough money! Give us more and this time we will protect you, we promise!”

  • March 7, 2013 at 10:05 am
    Roland says:
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    I’ll bore y’all a little more by expanding on my first point. Shortly after Sandy I saw a news report about unlicensed contractors “taking advantage of homeowners.” The reporter rode with a local government official who was patrolling the streets watching for scam artists, real or imagined. He stopped in a driveway where the owner of a rigging company was getting ready to lift a tree off a house. “Hey buddy, not so fast!”
    Now this obviously was no fly-by-night outfit. The guy’s gigantic boom truck was spotless, and appeared to be just the right tool for the job. The man was well-spoken and professional. I’ve hired riggers myself to move heavy, valuable machine tools in tight quarters, so I’d be willing to bet that this fellow was certainly capable of lifting a stinking tree off a house. He probably could have had the job done in half an hour and been on his way to another house where his equipment and expertise were desperately needed.
    But no, the tax-feeding watchdog would have none of it, even though the homeowner had voluntarily made a deal with the guy. “Show me your license for tree removal!” he huffed. After muttering something about just wanting to get the job done for the homeowner, the evil capitalist got in his truck and left. Yay!
    And what did the homeowner think of all this? To paraphrase: “Gosh, I didn’t know he was supposed to have a license. It’s a good thing you are looking out for me, Mr. Government Enforcer!”
    Only one problem: the guy’s house still had a tree on it. I wonder if it’s still there.



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