John Gaskill needed a kitchen remodeled and a roof replaced - or so went the script concocted by investigators from the state's Bureau of Consumer Protection for a Bucks County sting designed to nail unregistered contractors.
Six-foot-1, clean-cut, and in his early 40s, Gaskill passed easily in his role: a new owner seeking bids to fix a recently purchased house. It likely didn't hurt that he knows his dovetails from his butt joints, thanks to experience helping out with his father's contracting business.
Gaskill,a state consumer protection agent, made appointments in mid-December with 15 contractors, culled from ads, listings on websites such as Angie's List and Yelp!, and complaints to the bureau.
None of the 15 had an up-to-date registrationas required by the state's Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act - unlike more than 70,000 other businesses that appear to comply with the 2008 law. Unregistered, each then committed what Gaskill called a clear violation: proposing to charge him thousands of dollars for work on houses he purportedly owned in Langhorne and Doylestown - vacant homes provided by the county as sets for the sting.
State officials have since taken action against all 15 firms, Deputy Attorney General Margarita Tulman says. Nine have signed an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance, promising to abide by the law - including one that agreed to pay $2,000 to settle two pending consumer complaints. Four received warning letters. One, run by an undocumented immigrant, was referred to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. And one, a contractor who does business as Viking Building Group and who has so far refused to cooperate, was served last week with a show-cause order threatening contempt-of-court charges, Tulman says.
Pennsylvania's law, framed as registration rather than licensing, is weaker than many around the country. For instance, it does nothing to stop contractors from doing business if they've committed contracting-related crimes or faced a civil judgment for fraud - though it does require disclosure of such a history.
But even a low bar requires someone to make sure companies are clearing it. That's one of the aims of Basil Merenda, the chief deputy attorney general who took over last year as director of consumer protection under the state's embattled attorney general, Kathleen Kane.
Merenda's hope is that actions such as the Bucks sting can help "make sure there's a level playing field" for contractors, in part by scaring off those who can't or won't comply with the law's minimal standards, including a $50 biannual registration fee and at least $50,000 in liability insurance. He says the sting should be "a signal to contractors that the next time you receive a phone call asking you to come out and give an estimate, it may be an attorney general's agent."
Can the law be improved? Merenda says yes - and adds that he has already helped persuade the legislature to move in that direction.
Last fall, lawmakers added standards for "time and materials" contracts, and imposed a notice requirement for contractors convicted of a crime or ordered to pay a contracting-related civil judgment. Previously, such information would be tough for a consumer to find, at least until a contractor's registration came due for renewal. Now, key disclosures must be updated within 30 days.
Merenda says New Jersey's law suggests other changes that would benefit Pennsylvania consumers.
"Under our law, if a contractor discloses a conviction or judgments, we can't preclude them from registering," he says. In New Jersey, that contractor would have to persuade state officials to award a license.
Merenda says compliance here would be improved if the state mimicked another New Jersey requirement: that municipalities verify a contractor's registration before issuing a construction permit.
Despite its limits, the Pennsylvania law does offer useful information to those who search for contractors at hicsearch.attorneygeneral.gov - a finicky site that would benefit from an upgrade. (Here's a tip: If you can't find a contractor through a business name, try the owner's name or a phone number.)
An inescapable problem is that the home-improvement industry is full of small businesses, many with limited track records. You can check the Better Business Bureau and court records to see whether a company has drawn complaints or lawsuits, and you can check crowdsourced websites. But the absence of negatives is hardly an assurance of quality. Your best bet? Recommendations by trusted friends or neighbors.
But better enforcement, even of a relatively weak law, can't hurt. Merenda says Kane has made consumer protection a priority - as successful attorneys generals have done in other states. If so, better late than never.
215-854-2776@jeffgelles