Kokua Line
Kokua Line
Unscrupulous contractor
draws warning from stateQuestion: How do you stop crooked contractors from practicing? There is an individual doing business under a contractor's license that is not registered to him. Calls to the state Consumer Affairs Department show unpaid financial judgments against him and other sanctions dating to 1997, yet he is still doing business today. How is this practice possible, and what should a homeowner do, after the fact, when one discovers they have been duped? Are there criminal charges that can be filed to stop this person?
Answer: The state Regulated Industries and Complaints Office is well aware of the person you are referring to and, in fact, puts Tevita Ungounga No. 1 on its list of the top 10 unlicensed contractors in the state.
However, he's so far managed to sidestep authorities and continue operating, most recently in the Palolo area, according to Jo Ann Uchida, RICO's chief complaints officer.
"Unfortunately," she said, "we have not been able recently to catch him in the act. ... He's aware that we're looking at him, but he continues to operate. I would just encourage the public to be very careful."
Ungounga, also known as Terita Ungounga and David Ungounga, has been cited for unlicensed contracting several times and has an outstanding judgment against him for unlicensed contracting activity, Uchida said.
In an order issued by Circuit Judge Kevin Chang in July 2000, Ungounga was to "abate all activities as a contractor which require a license within the state until such time as he obtains a valid contractor's license." He also was ordered to pay a civil fine of $7,600.
When asked why he hasn't been arrested, she said her office is now working with law enforcement authorities "to see if that's a possibility."
Ungounga is "just very, very good at what he does. He is very convincing, and he manages to get quite a large sum of money from individual consumers," Uchida said. "Typically, he doesn't finish the job, so people are left having to hire a licensed contractor to do the work."
In many cases, the people allegedly being duped have taken the right cautionary steps, making background inquiries and checking to make sure he has a license to operate, she said.
However, he somehow manages to show a legitimate license number. He "may be using the license numbers of friends or other licensees to give homeowners the impression that he is licensed," Uchida said.
The bottom line, she said, is that if you hear the name Ungounga, "that should definitely be a red flag."
If you run into Ungounga or any other unlicensed contractor, call RICO's Consumer Resource Center at 587-3222. You can also call that number to check on a company's complaint history.
Under Chapter 444 of the Hawaii Revised Statues, a licensed contractor is required for any construction work of $1,000 or more for which a building permit is required. Homeowners can register as owner-builders with their county building departments, which would exempt them from being licensed contractors but still allow them to obtain building permits.
Auwe
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