As Los Angeles authorities crack down on unlicensed contractors who are accused of leaving wildfire victims with shoddy work, an Altadena woman who survived the Eaton Fire said an illegal builder preyed on her when she was at her most vulnerable.
When Pamelia Lawson’s home became one of the 1,073 properties that were damaged by the Eaton Fire in January 2025, a person who later turned out to be a bad actor approached the woman, offering to fix her house for a reasonable price.
“I do feel like they saw a person that was really in need of some type of help and guidance,” Lawson told NBC4 Investigates. “This was so new. We’ve never experienced a fire, and I think I was totally taken advantage of.”…