BEWARE; LaFrance's remodeling and others. Mississippi home repair fraud, crooked contractors take advatage of hurricaine victims

According to the Sea Coast Echo , by sept. of 2008 there have been 87 arrest made for home repair fraud . It seems like there has been an increase in the number of these charges in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. With the recent hurricane and the large inventory of damaged or demolished homes along the Mississippi gulf coast this seems to be a large playing field of easy prey for these dime a dozen petty criminals. The crimes are certainly not petty, when you consider the targets are commonly elderly persons with ill health and many are already impoverished without the help of these reprehensible thieves. Lets just call it what it is!

Posted below is a copy of the Sea Coast Echo story; if you are a victim , or know of someone who was a victim of this man (Gilbert LaFrance, of LaFrance's remodeling ) or any other decerebrate contractors in regards to home repair fraud, there is a link here to make a complaint and there is also a telephone number posted. There are people here on your side, please call, there's someone waiting to hear your complaints.

87th Contractor Charged with Home Repair Fraud
September 12 2008
Contact: Jan Schaefer
Public Information Officer
601/359.2002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Jackson, Miss. -Attorney General Jim Hood today announced his agency's 87th arrest for home repair fraud.

Gilbert Horash LaFrance, age 57, of Kiln, was arrested and charged September 11,2008 with Misdemeanor Home Repair Fraud and Misdemeanor Contracting without a Residential Builder's License. He appeared before Hancock County Justice Court Judge Tommy Carver who set bond at $2,000 ($1,000 for each charge).

LaFrance, owner of LaFrance Construction, was hired by a Bay St. Louis woman to repair her home after it was severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina. She alleges that LaFrance never completed the job he was hired to do, and the work that was performed did not meet building code.

LaFrance was also hired by a man from Bay St. Louis to build a new home after his was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. An investigation confirmed that LaFrance did not have a Residential Contractor's License.

"What we see a lot is that so called contractors will contract with a homeowner and then have the homeowner pull the building permits," said Attorney General Hood. "This is the main way crooked contractors try to get out of having a builders license. The contractor should always pull the permit, not the homeowner.

Consumers can find tips on preventing home repair fraud at http://www.agjimhood.com

LaFrances court date has been set for October 14, 2008. As with all cases, the charge is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.