If you look in skilled trades on Craigslist, you will get inundated with Handymen and other unlicensed contractors advertising for Plumbing, HVAC and Electrical work. This is illegal under NRS 624.720 for “Unlawful advertising”.
Now if someone advertised for drugs, prostitution or stealing something they would immediately be investigated, charged for the crime and prosecuted. So why isn’t this happening with the unlicensed contractors all over craigslist, thumbtack, yellowbook and all the other online advertisements. We have personally reported over a hundred of these law breakers with very little result. The main question is why isn’t the contractors board stopping these people? Why isn’t the DA’s office filing charges against these people?
One of the things that people may not understand is that if an unlicensed contractor takes your money and does not do the job, you can’t sue them. It would be like suing a drug dealer for selling you bad drugs. If they cause damage to your property, the insurance company more than likely will not cover the damages. We have talked to a few people that have been victimized this way. Licensed contractors have insurance to cover any damages that they may cause and they also carry bond insurance which means if you contract them to do a job and they either do not complete it, complete it wrong or violate the contract, a claim can be filed on that bond insurance.
The best thing that people can do when looking to hire someone for work around their home or business is to verify that they have a contractors license by contacting the Nevada State Contractors Board either by phone or looking up the information on their web site.
Nevada State Contractors Board
Hotline: 702-486-1160
24 Hour license verification: 702-486-1100
Online Verification: https://www.nvcontractorsboard.com/datamart/nvscbSearchByBusiness.do
