THE HIDDEN DANGERS OF BUILDING IN PANAMA CITY, FLORIDA!
The State of Florida is known for warm winters, constant sunshine and beautiful beaches. That is all true. That is what brought my husband and I here to retire. However, before deciding to relocate here, you must be informed of a very dark side of the sunshine state, the construction industry.
We invested our life savings in the construction of a new home in Panama City, Florida. We thought that we were careful when hiring a contractor. We verified that his contracting license was up to date and that there were no complaints with the Better Business Bureau. We thought that was enough. We were wrong!
We had a horrible experience with a building contractor and later discovered that he is an ex-convict with felony convictions for grand theft and violence. How could he have a contractor’s license? Neither the State of Florida nor the Bay County Contractor Licensing Dept. makes any connection between past criminal behavior and the risk that poses to unsuspecting homeowners. We didn’t do a background check as we believed that he must have already cleared background checks prior to licensing.
What is the gist of our story? His past offenses of theft and violence are now used as the dirty tricks of his trade. Our horrible experiences with this contractor comes under the catagories of Theft and Violence! The regulatory agencies who licensed him without considering that his past offenses could easily be repeated in his contracting business have refused take any responsibility and he has their blessing to repeat his actions on other unsuspecting homeowners. The Better Business Bureau of Northwest Florida refuses to inform consumers that a complaint was even filed!
IF YOU HIRE A BUILDER IN PANAMA CITY, FLORIDA, do atleast a free background check at the Bay County courthouse. www.baycoclerk.com (case search) check both civil and criminal, I sure wish that I had!
