ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 7, 1996 TAG: 9602070068
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
AFTER CHEATING Charles George out of more than $6,000 for unfinished housing improvements, David H. Dickson is going to prison. But George may never get his money back, attorneys say.
A fly-by-night building contractor was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison for taking money to remodel a Roanoke house, then leaving it in shambles.
Prosecutors said David H. Dickson posed as a state-licensed contractor long enough to collect more than $6,000 from a Roanoke man, then left town with the job half-done after gutting the man's Walnut Avenue Southwest property.
"He's a flimflam from the word `go,''' Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Tom Bowers said.
Dickson, 40, pleaded guilty to nine counts of construction fraud. Under a plea agreement reached in Roanoke Circuit Court, he was sentenced to five years in prison for two felony charges, one involving a $4,000 advance for work he never completed and the second involving $2,300 he charged Charles George for labor.
Although Dickson also was convicted on another seven misdemeanor infractions involving building requirements and his failure to have a state license to complete plumbing and electrical work, he did not receive additional punishment for those offenses.
A prison sentence is not unusual for contractors who cheat people out of large amounts of money, according to Vernon Reynolds, an investigator for the state Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation. Reynolds said he has about 55 construction fraud cases pending in court in his Southwest Virginia region.
"I just wish more people would be cautious about these fly-by-night contractors who come door to door," Reynolds said.
George could not be reached for comment Tuesday. In court, Bowers gave the following summary of the evidence:
Sometime in November 1994, George was discussing work he wanted to have done on the house with another contractor at his Walnut Avenue restaurant, The Deli Shoppe. Dickson, who was a patron in the restaurant at the time, overheard the conversation and, after the contractor had left, offered to do the work for a lower price.
Dickson, who had only a city business license, suggested during the conversation that he had state licenses to do electrical and plumbing work.
After ripping down walls to install new wiring and plumbing, Dickson left the house for another job and never returned to complete the work. "He just gutted the house," Bowers said.
The house was not George's primary residence. At the time, he was not sure whether he was going to use the property for commercial or residential purposes.
Last year, authorities had reached a plea agreement that would have ordered Dickson to pay George back. But after Dickson failed to appear in court, prosecutors rewrote the agreement - dropping the restitution requirement but requiring Dickson to serve a longer prison sentence.
George could seek to recover his losses by filing a civil suit, Bowers said. But defense attorney Tom Wray said his client, who has been incarcerated for several months on the failure to appear charge, is unable to make restitution.
TIPS ON SELECTING A HOME REMODLING CONTRACTOR
-- Get two or three bids for the work you need.
-- Ask the contractor for local references and check with the state Board for Contractors (804-367-8511) to see whether the contractor is licensed.
-- Demand a written contract that spells out all the work to be done and materials to be used.
-- Make sure all oral promises are written into the contract. If there are any changes, get them in writing, too.
-- Don't let the contractor pressure you into signing something you don't want or don't understand. (You have three working days to change your mind and cancel if you sign the contract in your home in the presence of someone from the contractor.)
-- Make sure the contractor gets a building permit. It's for your protection.
-- Don't pay for the whole job up front. And don't make the final payment until all the work is done.
SOURCE: "Choosing A Professional Remodeling Contractor," a pamphlet available at Better Business Bureau offices.
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