For Local Painter, Gardener, State's Sting Hurtful And Overblown

Donna Lott of Old Lyme has run Painting with a Woman’s Touch for 26 years. She works by herself, painting houses.

Earlier this year she got a call from a Lisa Carpenter to paint a house at 345 Rope Ferry Road in Waterford. She came to the job, typed up a quote and submitted it to the woman.

She never heard back. But last week, she received a letter saying she was being fined $250 for not having a home improvement license, and would have to buy a license for $220, a process that lasts about three weeks, during which she is not allowed to work. The license lasts until November, when she’ll have to buy another one.

Tuesday, she was watching television news when a story came on about a sting operation conducted by the Department of Consumer Protection out of the house to catch unlicensed contractors. Realizing she was part of that sting, she was shocked.

“If they would have just told me I needed a license, I would have bought a license,” Lott said. “I don't know why they had to do it that way.”

New London resident Cheryl Pappas, owner of the Greek Gardener for the past 35 years, had a similar experience. She was called to the house, and gave some advice on how to prune the trees and weed the garden. When asked to do more work, she said she was just a gardener, and didn’t give the “homeowner” a quote.

Last week, she also received a letter saying she was in violation of not having a home improvement license. She also found out about the sting operation through the media.

“Never in a million years did I think a gardener would need a home improvement license,” Pappas said. “If they would have just told me, I would have complied up and down. But what does gardening have to do with home improvement?”

The Story

Over the past three months, the Department of Consumer Protection has conducted the sting at 345 Rope Ferry Road (which is owned by the state). Undercover investigators acting as homeowners invited contractors they thought were unlicensed to the home and requested bids for work to be done.

Overall, 44 contractors were caught as part of the investigation. Aside from contractors, many were painters, landscapers, pavers and in the case of Pappas, gardeners.

“Although the law has required that home improvement contractors and salespeople register with the Department for more than 20 years, we still find individuals trying to skirt this law,” Consumer Protection Commissioner William M. Rubenstein said in a release.  “In terms of volume and cost, the highest-ranking consumer complaint in Connecticut and nationally each year is home improvement.”

Customers dealing with registered contractors who suffer damages can get up to $15,000, the release said. If a contractor is unregistered, the customer will receive nothing, the release said.

However, for Lott, the whole situation could have been handled by just calling her, she said. Instead, she felt like the whole thing was an invasion, and is uncomfortable about new jobs.

“I feel like they are following me. It's scary for a single woman,” Lott said. “Now I’m even fearful of looking for a new job.”

Pappas, meanwhile, looked at the finances. If all 44 people paid, it would equal $11,000, while the sting probably costs exponentially more to run, she said.

“It is another Big Brother wants money thing, but are they really getting money?” she asked. “That’s why we are in this business mess.”