Utah regulators have received more than 1,200 complaints involving contractors this fiscal year, so far. Here are steps homeowners should take now to avoid contractor trouble later.
DOPL's Mark Steinagel says 524 unlicensed contractor complaints logged this fiscal year SALT LAKE CITY — That bargain basement price you've been quoted in a bid for a new roof, driveway or, well, basement, might look good on paper, but the latest numbers from the State of Utah show home improvement complaints keep landing at the top of Utah consumers' headache list.
At the Utah Division of Consumer Protection, complaints about home repair or remodel have topped the list of consumer complaints for three straight fiscal years. And over at the state's Division of Professional Licensing, they've logged 524 complaints about unlicensed contractors this fiscal year so far. The division has also received 458 complaints about unprofessional conduct, 156 about financial responsibility and 134 complaints about project abandonment.
"They take money and then don't come back," said DOPL's director, Mark Steinagel, who had just returned from Utah's Capitol Hill, where he broke down those numbers for lawmakers. "One thing we hear frequently about is the payment schedule," he said. "I'm sure you hear that, too. "To be clear, there are many honest contractors out there.
But there are bad players, too. : Get at least two bids for your project. Three is better. Get at least three references for each contractor you're considering.
: It needs to include the exact work to be done, price, beginning and end dates, permits and a guarantee of liability coverage. : Be wary if the contractor wants a large down payment. Pay as the work gets completed and never in cash. : Do not make the final payment until your contractor has signed lien releases from all suppliers and subcontractors.
Otherwise, they can file a lien against your property if the contractor doesn't pay them. And since these steps come from the Division of Professional Licensing, you can also expect it to want you to make sure your contractor has a valid license. An unlicensed contractor cannot get the necessary permits, plus could open you to liability if any employees or subcontractors get hurt on your job.
"A license doesn't guarantee everything will go well, but you have a higher likelihood because of the checks that we do and the discipline we can take," Steinagel said. Still, the advice from DOPL remains simple: Slow down before you sign a contract, definitely before you pay. Don't skip steps. Because once your money is gone, clawing it back will be much harder than it is to vet a contractor in the first place.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written. Lien trap: Lehi couple says dispute with roofer leads to construction lien on homeMatt Gephardt has worked in television news for more than 20 years, and as a reporter since 2010. He is now a consumer investigative reporter for KSL.
You can find Matt on X at @KSLmatt or email him at matt@ksl.com. Sloan Schrage started as an “old man” intern with KSL TV in 2007. For the past ten years, he’s produced daily and investigative stories that impact safety, security and wallets of Utah consumers. When he’s not at KSL, he’s either with his family or trying to repair cars with help from YouTube tutorials, or buying cameras or other photography gear that he’ll never use.
West Jordan man says a prior authorization mix-up has left him stuck with a $25K medical bill
Please follow us on Google to support us Traffic Weather Sports Classifieds Cars Jobs Homes Television Radio Salt Lake Utah Local Local Business Law Lifestyle
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Departamento de Defensa de EEUU reduce su lista religiosa de más de 200 opciones a 31WASHINGTON (AP) — El Departamento de Defensa de Estados Unidos anunció el viernes una reducción significativa en la cantidad de afiliaciones religiosas que reconoce oficialmente.
Read more »
Suspect sought after gluing 200 doors shut at high school, disrupting operationsNearly 200 doors at San Diego's Patrick Henry High School were glued shut in a vandalism incident during finals week.
Read more »
US kills more than '200 terrorists' in Nigeria operationsIn a post on X, AFRICOM said the recent strikes eliminated 'more than 200 terrorists,' including senior ISIS figure Abu-Bilal al-Minuki
Read more »
Suspect glues 200 doors shut at California high school; $70K in damage reportedA suspect glued 200 doors shut at a California high school, causing $70K in damage.
Read more »