Lily Delgado was hoping to build an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) on her property, but says instead, she's out thousands of dollars.
"They sounded like, you know, very nice people, you know, Hispanics, and, you know, we spoke the same language, and, you know, I trusted them. I trusted him," Delgado said. "And he took advantage of me, yes."
Delgado says she wanted to build an ADU on her property for her grandchild. She contacted a contractor and architect who had been recommended by a relative. She thought that with the addition of the ADU, it could also help with extra income for her retirement.
"And I was hoping to do the ADU for them. And then maybe they can help me. I can retire. I still have a mortgage, and I haven't been able to do that," she said.
"You can't retire?" ABC7 On Your Side reporter Carlos Granda asked. "And is this one of the reasons?"
"This is one of the reasons, yes, because they've taken my money," Delgado said.
Delgado sent ABC7 On Your Side copies of the checks she wrote to the contractor, which add up to $18,500.
"So, with the down payments, you cannot pay any more than $1,000 or 10% of the total project cost, whichever is less, and that is all you can pay for the down payment," said Katherine White with the Contractors State License Board (CSLB). "So if you have a contractor who's asking for more than that, that's already going to be a red flag."
The Contractor's State License Board says, before you give any money to a contractor, check to make sure they have a valid license and check for any complaints.
"They need to make sure that they verify that the contractor is licensed first, and that's by going to the CSLB website and looking at our license check feature, where you can verify the license number, make sure that the person who, was potentially, you know, proposing that contract to you is listed on the license," White said.
Delgado says, unfortunately, she did not check the license on the CSLB website.
"Did you say, 'Well, let me see your, what's your license number?' You didn't think about that?" Carlos asked.
"I didn't even think about that. I've never built anything, I've never had anything built, so it didn't even dawn on me. Because they came across so nice, you know, and they just took advantage," Delgado said.
Eyewitness News went to the address the contractor listed on his documents -- a home in Colton. The residents there said he hadn't lived there in years.
By searching records, Eyewitness News found a second home, but no one was there. We also called a phone number connected to the contractor and reached a person who said she was his daughter, but she refused to answer any questions and hung up.
"Just over the last year or so, we've been noticing an increase in complaints related to ADUs around the state," White said.
The CSLB says that as people try to rebuild after the January fires, they need to be careful who they hire. The good news is that there are stronger rules to help.
"You have to have a valid license to contract in a declared disaster area, and if you're contracting without a license in a declared disaster area, it can be charged as a felony," White said.
"I really want them to give me my money back so I can move on," Delgado said. "That's all I want, and I don't want them to do this to anybody else, because this is a terrible feeling."