Unauthorized activity on license

Status
Not open for further replies.
E

Ekooc

Member
Location
Florida
Hi
Florida EC here.
I suspect someone is pulling permits under my license, signing my name, etc.
Instead of going through records city by city and county by county, is there a state wide method of finding all permits pulled on my licence.
If there is I have not been able to on DBPR.
Thanks for any help
John
 
cant you call a local AHJ and just ask them, see if they can do it or direct you to right place?
 
This by the way is not the first time I've seen this brought up in electrical forums. Some states have requirements that contractors filing for permits show proper ID in person, some do not and this is only happening in places that do not. You may want to consider lobbying to add this provision, or at least lobby for relaxation of any rules requiring you to show your license number in advertisements as some other areas have done, because that's how the scammers operate in those places where ID is not required.
 
You are correct
In years past I had to have a notarized form enabling another person to even pick up permit.
I hoped that another Fl contractor unfortunately had this happen and found a State data base for permits.
Seems there should be since I can work the whole State.
 
I would suggest sending a letter to the state licensing authority informing them that you believe you are an ongoing victim of identity theft, and including the evidence you have of unauthorized activity on your license. Perhaps ask them to investigate. You might also consider filing a police report. This will not stop the activity, but it does create a paper trail clearly showing that you are aware of the problem and informed the authorities. If you end up in some kind of dispute later over work done by someone else using your identity, it will be very helpful to have evidence that the problem was identified and reported.


Disclaimer: This is not legal advice, and I am not your attorney.
 
Ekooc said:
Hi
Florida EC here.
I suspect someone is pulling permits under my license, signing my name, etc.
Instead of going through records city by city and county by county, is there a state wide method of finding all permits pulled on my licence.
If there is I have not been able to on DBPR.
Thanks for any help
John
Click to expand...


It appears you have knowledge of something or a clue. I would contact the agency that issued the permit. They should give you a list or the permit and address. Get the AHJ to put a stop notice on the Job. Notify the owner. You need to act fast. Get things in writing . Get the person red handed while work is still in progress.


A company I once worked for had a employee moonlighting, The boss went to the owner. The owner confessed that they knew that the employees were doing the work off the books after hours. The boss gave the lady a bill for the work as she knew. The lady paid. The guys were fired.
 
At a company I used to work for I had vacation time approved months in advance, but when the time came for me to leave, the office manager found the timing to be inconvenient. There was no way I could change my dates (plane tix bought, etc.), so he asked me for my computer password so that he could use my machine to affix my PE stamp to drawings in my absence.

Um, no.
 
Ekooc said:
Hi
Florida EC here.
I suspect someone is pulling permits under my license, signing my name, etc.
Instead of going through records city by city and county by county, is there a state wide method of finding all permits pulled on my licence.
If there is I have not been able to on DBPR.
Thanks for any help
John
Click to expand...

There is no statewide database as far as I know.

What is making you suspect this is happening? Are you receiving notices from a jurisdiction about permits pulled?

Use the jurisdictions on-line permit manager to look up permits with your license number, contact the property owner, find out who the guy is, report him for unlicensed contracting.
 
Jraef said:
This by the way is not the first time I've seen this brought up in electrical forums. Some states have requirements that contractors filing for permits show proper ID in person, some do not and this is only happening in places that do not. You may want to consider lobbying to add this provision, or at least lobby for relaxation of any rules requiring you to show your license number in advertisements as some other areas have done, because that's how the scammers operate in those places where ID is not required.
Click to expand...

While I like the idea of positive identification, going to the 20+ permit offices in my service area takes a tremendous amount of time. Getting permits on-line gives me more billable hours and keeps my prices a bit lower.
 
Coppersmith said:
While I like the idea of positive identification, going to the 20+ permit offices in my service area takes a tremendous amount of time. Getting permits on-line gives me more billable hours and keeps my prices a bit lower.
Click to expand...

Getting permits on-line in my name keeps my competition busy, and keeps their prices a bit lower than me.

your sentence was broken. i fixed it for you.

i'm not aware of any cities here that issue permits on line.
and if you show up without your state issued contractors card,
you leave without your permits.

you can also search permits issued in other contractors names,
iirc. so you should be able to search all permits issued on your
license, and see if you have leakage...

when i'm preparing documents for lighting certification, i pull an
abstract of the contractors license history.

whew. that's all i can say on some of them.
 
mlnk said:
Santa Rosa , CA issues permits online after the contractor has signed up for that service.
Click to expand...

I would think (hope) that any online permitting system would require some kind of authentication, even better if it is two-factor authentication.
Surely no authority has an online process where all anyone needs to know is your license number?...
 
Ekooc said:
Hi
Florida EC here.
I suspect someone is pulling permits under my license, signing my name, etc.
Instead of going through records city by city and county by county, is there a state wide method of finding all permits pulled on my license
Click to expand...

Ekooc said:
Even with State cert each county has to be signed up with
when I call say city of West Palm they direct me to DBPR
Click to expand...


If you suspect someone is useing your license there must be a reason. That would be a good place to start.

For someone to register in a jurisdiction to work as a contractor would require a good deal of fake paper work (fraud). So check the areas where you are signed up (registered).

I doubt if anyone would be dumb enough for on line permitting because that would required setting up an account with a credit card number.
 
retirede said:
Surely no authority has an online process where all anyone needs to know is your license number?...
Click to expand...

Since you have to set up an account to pay for permits there is normally a password or code to be entered.

You would notice if you are paying for more permits than you have actually pulled.Only an Ex-employee or wife would/should/could have such information.
 
retirede said:
I would think (hope) that any online permitting system would require some kind of authentication, even better if it is two-factor authentication.
Surely no authority has an online process where all anyone needs to know is your license number?...
Click to expand...

There is a username/password sign-in like most online systems. How secure it is? Probably as secure as most other on-line systems. Not really a "hacking" target AFAIK.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top