JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Contractor fraud is a widespread problem in Florida, from swimming pools to custom home construction and roofing fraud.

It can be a disappointing and costly mistake for homeowners.

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Christopher Cobb has decades of experience handling contractor fraud cases. In 2012, he was appointed by then-Governor Rick Scott to serve on the Florida State Construction Industry Licensing Board.

“It’s a billion dollar problem,” Cobb said.

News4JAX asked him what consumers can do to protect themselves. In many cases, the answer is nothing.

“It happens all the time, and unfortunately it’s financially related,” Cobb said. “What you see is you see contractors going overboard with either the amount of work they have, and they’ll take, they’ll take money out of one project and apply it to another and create deficits. And then they always, constantly try to catch up. And at some point, if something goes wrong in that chain, homeowners are damaged and hurt, and that’s when the complaints come in.”

Some common tactics used by fraudulent contractors include: Disappearing after payment, providing substandard labor or materials, and engaging homeowners in insurance fraud schemes.

The best advice Cobb has is for homeowners to research their contractors before signing any documents or sending payments.

“The owner has a responsibility to vet contractors to the extent they can. If I do all the verification activities and do them perfectly, that does not necessarily mean that I will avoid fraud, because if you are dealing with a dishonest person, no matter how much you verify, dishonesty. is to cheat,” he said.

This is exactly what happened to the owners of houses in Knocked out at the beginning of this year. An apparently reputable homebuilder with a successful business record was accused of stealing $15 million from a group of 13 people.

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TV star Captain Sandy Yawn was one of the homeowners duped by the Pineapple Corporation. In 2021, President Spencer Calvert told the Jacksonville Daily Record that it is attracting more out-of-state luxury home buyers than ever before.

State Attorney RJ Larizza said that’s a big part of the problem.

“St. Johns is such a thriving environment. I mean, we have people moving here residentially. We have businesses moving in. I mean, they’re building a Bass Pro Shop. You’ve got a new Costco, you’ve got a Buc-ees. So people gathers in St. Johns County, so it creates what I call a target-rich environment, because the more construction you have, the more people move in, the more opportunities there are to scammers to come and take advantage of people, basically rip them off.” Larizza said.

Larizza’s advice for homeowners is pretty simple.

“Don’t give people your money before you check it. The best way to get your money back is to keep it and be very cautious about who you entrust with it,” he said.

If you are scammed, report the incident to law enforcement and contact your local St. But don’t expect to get your money back.

“It’s hard to get your money back. They take it, it’s gone, and then sure, we can do jail. We can do jail time, we can do probation, and we have a large amount of restitution for him to pay. But the system says if a person doesn’t have the ability to repay the restitution, and in some cases it can be millions of dollars if they don’t have the ability, you can’t block them for a period of time. probation violation, which is very frustrating for everyone,” Larizza said.

Attorneys like Cobb can help in some cases, but the reality is that it often costs more money to pursue litigation. In many cases, homeowners need to cut their losses.

“You want to help them, but sometimes the system won’t let you. And I’ve put myself in their shoes many times, thinking that I couldn’t imagine being scammed out of $100,000 by a contractor who said he was going to do something,” Cobb said.

Homeowners have some rights under state law.

The Florida Homeowners Construction Recovery Fund it is a fund of last resort.

If you have exhausted all other repayment options and have a judgment against a contractor, you may be eligible to access the $24 million state fund. But the maximum amount that can be refunded to you is $25,000.

“There’s room for change in that,” Cobb said. “There needs to be a more concerted effort to go after these bad actors. Most of the time, people will do what they have to do if they’re threatened with jail, you know, if it’s just money, well, they can follow me until I’m either tired of running or they can just pay- them back, or just stop following me.”

Larizza agrees.

“There may be a way to find a source of funding to strengthen, maybe the AGs fund, or maybe to create another fund, maybe, you know, there are ways that within the licensing that could be done, not I don’t know, but I’m a big proponent of not losing your money to begin with,” Larizza said. “Be diligent, be smart and ask questions.”

As claims of fraud become more common, Larizza has a message for the bad guys.

“People out there that are scamming people, you know, watch out, because we’re going to come after you,” he said. “If we can prove this, we will prosecute you and it will not be a pleasant experience.”

So here are the most important takeaways:

Before signing a contract, homeowners should talk to people who have worked with the contractor before, go beyond who the builder suggests you talk to, look up any claims about the DBPR person’s license to the DBPR. myFloridalicense.comhave the contractor sign a “Warranty Release” to avoid problems with unpaid subcontractors, and consider having an attorney review any documents you sign.