KHTS Radio Santa Clarita Radio – Santa Clarita News
Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station detectives are looking for potential victims of an unlicensed contractor scam, officials said Tuesday.
Multiple Santa Clarita Valley homeowners reported to the Sheriff’s Station they were victimized by a suspect who allegedly collected thousands of dollars for home improvement projects without completing any of the work or delivering products as promised, according to Shirley Miller, spokesperson for the station.
Richard Bannister, 52, was arrested by detectives on Jan. 13, and charged with grand theft, according to Miller.
After further investigation, the case was presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office on Feb. 3, and five felonies and two misdemeanors were subsequently filed against Bannister.
Bannister is an ex-employee of a construction company, who may have used his prior employment to contact homeowners and establish credibility. The investigation revealed he did not have a contractor’s license, according to Sheriff’s officials.
“The investigation alleges Bannister collected a majority of the total cost of each project prior to beginning work. Bannister would then never return to complete the job, despite multiple messages, emails and phone calls from frustrated clients,” Miller said.
Some of the victims included a senior citizen who paid Banister over $30,000 for work on his home that was reportedly never finished. The investigation revealed these funds were allegedly unlawfully diverted by Bannister.
Another victim reportedly paid Bannister thousands of dollars to start work on adding a bathroom in her house. After repeated phone calls, Bannister reportedly agreed to refund the victim half the payment.
After the victim took the check to her bank for depositing, she was informed by the bank that the check had bounced, and the account that it was written from had insufficient funds to cover it, according to Miler.
“Not only was Bannister allegedly taking payment for construction work that was never completed, but he also stands accused of selling appliances for a discounted price, and never delivering the product,” Miller said.
Bannister allegedly offered to sell a refrigerator retailing for $7,000 at a discounted rate of $4,500. The victim wrote him a check; however, the appliance reportedly never arrived, according to Sheriff’s officials.
Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s detectives are investigating to determine if there are other unreported incidents and victims.
Potential victims or witnesses are encouraged to call Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station at (661) 255-1121 to report suspected crimes.
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We were victims of this man too. He remodeled a bedroom in our home. We ordered custom mirrored closet doors at 1600 dollars. We never got them and he stopped returning calls and bad number.
I am the Senior Citizen mentioned in the bulletin from the Sheriff’s Department. i have compiled a list of 18 others who have been allegedly defrauded by Mr. Bannister. It is about time he is being brought to justice.
Don’t let this happen to you. Hire UHA certified handymen.
A certified handyman is versed in the law, passes background screening and is covered by the UHA for loss that guarantees the home owner completion or investment back up to $5k.
The UHA verifies all business documents and insurance. Members show proof of identity of self and business.
Huh…..since the max price an unlicensed handyman can bill in California is $500.00 without a contractor’s license and surety bond on file with the CSLB whether approved by the UHA or not, I’d say dont hire handymen to do any project that tops that 500 dollar mark. You get what you pay for people. Same rule has existed forever. There is plenty of info out there. People want to go cheap and sometimes they get ripped off. Hire licensed companies you pay more but you are always covered.
What a piece of ?. I bet his home is gorgeous too. Stealing all of that money from HONEST people. Too bad everything is about to change for the worst to his world. This is what happens to bad people who pretends to be good. Hate to be his wife & children right now. How embarrassing is that? Being married to THIS & having to call this MAN daddy… how embarrassing is THAT???
I am getting so tired of these stories. I wrote a book back in 1984 teaching consumers how to properly hire a contractor without getting ripped off. Basic rule number 1, check his lic. check his references, call his last 5 jobs and talk to his last clients. Easy. But basically consumers are lazy and do not want to do their homework, and subsequently, they get ripped off. I have hundreds of stories about his. The last job I went to bid on the lady got ripped off, her money was stolen and she did not have the funds to finish her job. I had another client who paid a clown all her money and he destroyed her home. She was crying asking me to fix her house for free, and she would tell all her friends about me. So sad. People, check out your contractors like your checking out your surgeon!
Richard had a judgement against him in a small claims suit several years ago. That case involved shoddy work redoing a shower. The shower pan wasn’t water tight so water leaked into wall framing, causing damage and mold. The judge didn’t give Richard much of an opportunity to defend himself because the job was above the limits of what a handyman can do and Richard didn’t have a contractors license. As a result the judge awarded the homeowners the damages they were asking for.
I was present as a witness for the homeowners. Guess Richard didn’t learn his lesson. Very sad for all the victims. Richard deserves the harshest penalty possible because of his history and clear intent to defraud the owners.