Registration Ineffective, Builders Say
A statewide plan requiring builders to be registered and carry insurance does nothing to protect consumers, some contractors say.
A fledgling group of Coeur d’Alene builders has asked the Legislature to scrap a bill that would require them to be registered.
“This will not make contractors reputable or ethical,” said builder Mike Ryan. “The homeowners will look at someone’s registration card and get a false sense of security.”
The latest push for contractor registration comes from the Idaho Building Contractors Association. That group’s proposal would require builders to pay a $25 registration fee and carry $50,000 in general liability insurance.
Consumers in Kootenai and Ada counties are clamoring for some type of contractor regulation because a handful of shady builders has defrauded dozens of customers.
Dan Entwistle, now a Spokane resident, claims he was ripped off by builder Ronald Stratton last year. He said the statewide registration plan would not have spared him a $2,700 loss.
Stratton is accused of defrauding several Kootenai and Benewah County residents. A 1st District Court recently ruled that Stratton must pay the state and his victims $180,000.
“What good does it do to register somebody like that?” Entwistle said. “If anything, it makes them appear more legitimate. We need a legal system that treats these people as criminals.”
Pat Harper of the state contractors association concedes that the registration bill cannot eliminate fraud.
“It’s like having laws against murder,” she said. “It doesn’t stop murder, but it makes people stop and think.”
Registration also would ensure that the state maintains basic information about builders. To be registered, builders must provide the state with a Social Security number and a tax number.
That information often is needed to sue a contractor who has defrauded customers, Harper said.
“Now the consumer doesn’t even have this information a lot of the time,” she said. “You can’t sue a shadow.”
House Bill 182, the state contractors’ proposal, has not been scheduled for a hearing.
Contractor Bill Monaghan of Post Falls said registration does nothing more than pacify the victims of shady contractors.
He has joined Ryan and a handful of other builders who recently forwarded an alternative plan to Rep. Jeff Alltus, R-Coeur d’Alene.