5 folks had been arrested earlier this 12 months and charged with working as unlicensed contractors in an space affected by the harmful Eaton hearth, a part of a broader anti-fraud operation by the Los Angeles County district legal professional’s workplace.
The defendants are accused of illegally making an attempt to carry out repairs on what they thought had been properties broken by the January blaze, which killed 18 folks and destroyed about 9,400 properties in Altadena. However as an alternative they had been caught up in an October undercover sting meant to focus on what L.A. County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman referred to at a Thursday information convention as “legal contractors.”
“They’re attempting to benefit from folks at a few of their lowest moments,” Hochman stated, standing on a plot of land in Altadena the place the house of a county worker as soon as stood earlier than it was destroyed within the hearth.
Hochman stated he’s launching a broader effort to guard hearth victims in search of low cost repairs. He warned that although unlicensed contractors could also be cost-effective, they nearly by no means have insurance coverage and sometimes ask for extra money upfront than is legally allowed, which Hochman stated might result in fraud and go away owners with little recourse if a venture goes improper.
“There’s a cause it’s fast. And there’s a cause it’s cheaper,” he stated.
All 5 males arrested within the undercover operation didn’t truly carry out any work on a house, in keeping with Hochman, who stated another fire-impacted owners have reached out to prosecutors to determine different unlicensed staff. Extra fees might be coming, he stated.
Every defendant faces a $10,000 high-quality and as much as three years in jail. Although contracting with out a license is generally a misdemeanor, it’s a felony when accomplished in reference to an space broken by a pure catastrophe, Hochman stated.
Requested if he had considerations concerning the attainable immigration penalties of such an enforcement effort — given the Trump administration’s sporadic arrests at L.A. courthouses and the truth that many unlicensed contractors can not get state approval due to their immigration standing — Hochman stated the operation had nothing to do with immigration enforcement “come what may.”
