Department of Consumer Protection Apprehends “Repeat Offender”
HARTFORD, — Richard Koslik of Springfield Massachusetts, owner of the Ready Company and Custom Fabrications of Bloomfield, has been sentenced to serve nine months in prison for offering and performing home improvement work without being registered with the Department of Consumer Protection, Commissioner Jerry Farrell, Jr. said today.
“This was a lengthy investigation and prosecution with significant penalties,” Consumer Protection Commissioner Jerry Farrell Jr. said. “The law clearly requires home improvement contractors to be registered in order to perform work in Connecticut, and anyone without the proper credential should be forewarned to register immediately.”
Koslik was sentenced in Enfield Superior Court for two counts of offering home improvements and one count of performing home improvements without a current Home Improvement Contractor registration. He was also ordered to pay a fine of $2,000.
In 1997, Koslik signed a consent agreement with the Department to settle numerous consumer complaints, yet failed to make payments under that agreement, resulting in the suspension of his Home Improvement Contractor registration. Subsequent investigations by the Department from 1998 to 2002 led to ten convictions for home improvement violations, for which Koslik served six months in prison in 2004.
“Contractors in Connecticut are expected to abide by the law and uphold their agreements to the State and to their customers, and significant penalties await those who attempt to skirt the law,” Farrell said.
Prior to entering into a written agreement with a home improvement contractor, Commissioner Farrell urges consumers to call the Department of Consumer Protection to check a contractor’s registration status, or verify the contractor’s status on the agency website www.ct.gov/dcp under “Verify a License.” Consumers may also call the Department toll-free to review a specific contractor’s complaint history at: 1-800-842-2649.
