I went to National Lumber in Mansfield, MA to get a reference for a contractor. They gave me Joe Delsignore of New England Construction and Remodeling in Plainville, MA. National Lumber claims to check licenses and registrations. His card stated he was licensed and this was also on the internet. He gave me a price to remodel of $18,000 and asked for $8,700 in advance, which I now know is way above the recommended advance. He delivered about $800 worth of products to the house prior to work beginning. On the day he was to start, he called and told me had problems and wouldn't do any work unless I paid him and additonal $3,000. I declined. He later tried to come and do the work but I had found out he was unlicensed and unregistered. I filed a lawsuit when he refused to return my money. He lost the lawsuit, but I only got $500 out of him. He was a member of the Bristol Norfolk HomebuildersAssociation until I filed a complaint with them. He was removed.
Remember to check their license and registration and forget the references, his didn't help me at all and I checked them. Also beware of any company claiming to refer licensed or registered contractors; they don't check their licenses and registrations. (I checked National Lumber myself and found 3 with no licenses.) It's a good-old-boy network and they believe whatever the contractors tell them. Another problem is the Attorney General's Office. If you don't put in the name of the person or company exactly as entered into their computer, it might not come up. With my guy, his registration had been suspended, so no report came back, but the the Attorney General's Officedoesn't tell you that. I found out after I filed a complaint with them.
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