FLOWOOD, MS (Mississippi News Now) -
You might remember the moment in March 2010 when our news crew confronted contractor Benjamin White at a home show at the Mississippi Trademart.
"Are you the same Benjamin White who was convicted of fraud?" we asked. White walked away, telling us that his case was on appeal.
"Everyone knows I don't run those business practices. Everyone knows me better than that," he said.
White had been convicted of misdemeanor home repair fraud in 2009 for a job several years before in Canton. Today, the charge would be a felony. When we confronted White, he was promoting his company, Deckpros.
White denied wrongdoing and appealed his case all the way up to the state Supreme Court, but lost. In fact, he's now spending weekends in jail, serving out a 15-day sentence. He's also ordered to pay $37,000 in restitution. The Attorney General's office prosecuted.
Visit the website for his company, Deckpros, and you will see pictures of luxurious porches and decks.
Bobby Conway of Memphis was enticed. In May, he hired White and Deckpros to build a screened-in porch on the back of his second home in Flowood.
Conway does not claim to be a home remodeling expert, but he's unhappy with the work.
"It's not anchored. There's nothing from stopping the wood from rotting," he tells us as he walks us around the exterior of the porch.
Inside the porch, doors are cut unevenly on the bottom. There are protruding nails, and more.
"All the doors are completely all cracked. You can see the door frame, all cracked," Conway says.
The plywood ceiling isn't smooth. Conway says the ceiling fan and lights were wired incorrectly.
"I'll have to have an electrician come out to redo that," he says.
"Nothing is sealed at all. Nothing," Conway tells us as he points to the area where the porch meets the house.
"The total bill was supposed to be $12,600," Conway says, adding that he had already paid Deckpros $9,800 in several increments.
"When (White) asked for the final payment, a pretty big sum, I sent him a list of action items that needed to be done. I had every intention of paying him in full. I had no problems with that until I found out there was no permits and he was not certified to do this work," he says.
The City of Flowood says, in that municipality, a permit must be pulled for any structure that's attached to a house. Conway tells us that without a permit, the homeowner would need a separate insurance policy for the structure. If there's no separate insurance policy and the structure caught on fire, the house would not be covered.
Conway filed complaints with the Attorney General's office and the Mississippi Board of Contractors. Board Executive Director John Sullivan tells us, unlicensed contractors cannot legally take jobs over $10,000. But all the board can do is inspect, revoke licenses, and submit evidence to the Attorney General.
"Unfortunately, unless we have folks like WLBT out there pointing the finger, saying this guy has noted this and so forth, the next homeowner is just another victim," Sullivan says.
3 On Your Side has made contact with White for this story. He defends his work, but he won't allow us to air any of his comments.
Conway says White sent him an email on Friday stating he's refunding Conway's money.
'I'm doing the right thing here and paying $9,800 for my mistake of not pulling the permit before construction. I ask that you do the right thing as well, and remove yourself from this story Cheryl has created," the email states.
Because there was no permit for the porch, Conway plans to tear it down and start from scratch.
Sullivan says buyers must beware.
"Take a moment. Check a reference. People are only as good as their last job," he says.
Copyright 2012 WLBT. All rights reserved.
WLBT 3 - Fox 40
