Ex Florida Cop Going After Bogus Home Improvement Contractors

In Hernando County, Florida, the St. Petersburg Times has a story on retired Pinellas County, FL Sheriff's deputy Tim Greene, who is now bringing his cop mentality to his current job as a Field Investigator for the Hernando County Building Department and whose job description includes going after crooked, unlicensed home repair and improvement contractors. Excerpts from the story:

• For the past 21/2 years, he's worked to catch fraudulent contractors who do business in the county without a proper license. "It's a mentality," he said. "You've got to have a mentality that people shouldn't be taken advantage of because they are young or old. What these guys are doing is wrong and illegal."

Among other things, Greene points out that, under state law, the contractor's license number needs to be on vehicles and all advertising, including business cards and phone book ads. He cautions against being confused between a contractor license number and an occupational license number, which doesn't count.

In certain cases, ex-cop Greene works directly with fraud detectives across the street at the Sheriff's Office. For more, see In pursuit of handy con men (The growing problem of unlicensed contractors has county investigators trying to root out the frauds).