Plumbing, concrete, a paint job, some landscaping: those were the jobs on offer at an undercover sting California’s Contractors State License Board ran in Bakersfield on April 24 and 25, 2025. The people who came out quoted between $1,600 and $4,800. Several of them also asked for more money down than state law allows.
Ten left with notices to appear in court for alleged unlicensed contracting, and one more was to be referred to the Kern County District Attorney, according to the board’s release of May 20, 2025 (CSLB #25-04).
The usual view is that a deposit just buys a spot on a crew’s schedule, and a contractor who takes it and walks faces nothing. In California, both the deposit and the walking are things the board acts on…