Anyone who's a homeowner in New Jersey has probably dealt with their fair share of shoddy contractors before. Those that give all contractors a bad name and probably shouldn't be practicing in the first place.

I myself have had this experience once, and it was with a contractor I thought was really nice and honest. That part right there was my mistake.

The second a problem came up after the work was complete, the contractor went from being there for you to the hell with you. And as time as gone on, I'm learning I'm not the only one with this experience.

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In fact, several homeowners I know have gone through this with varying types of projects. Keep in mind that it's not the projects themselves that are the issue, it's the actions of the contractor.

So if you've ever had a contractor who is guilty with any of the below, having some kind of law on the books to help prevent some of these bad habits might be the way to go. And for all the New Jersey contractors who know they do this, you're the reason why so many of the general public flat out doesn't trust you.

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Good contractors

Before we get to the different reasons, let's first give a shout out to all the contractors who work hard to do everything right. Much like certain drivers on the road that give all Jersey drivers a bad name, not all contractors are the same.

Even though I've also had my experience with a bad contractor, I've also had good experiences. So it's important to acknowledge them as well.

Those that try to do everything correctly, that communicate clearly, and own up to mistakes or if something doesn't go quite right. Those are the contractors that deserve praise, and the ones that shouldn't be included with the group below.

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That final payment stretch

Think about how often this happens. When you're told one time line, only for the job to be stretched well beyond the proposed completion date, with no clear reason for that delay?

Or, the job remains pretty much on time up until toward the end. More specifically, when the contractor receives that final payment.

Once they have all their money, the project suddenly crawls to the finish line and you wonder why is isn't getting done?

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Bad talking other contractors

Have you ever hired a contractor to do some work only to be questioned by another contractor? This is something that actually happened to an old neighbor of mine.

They had to go out to the store to get some materials for the job they were getting done in their bathroom. They were in the section looking when someone approached them asking if they needed help. It turned out it wasn't a store employee, but another contractor.

Once he found out the contractor our neighbor was using, he immediately started attacking that person. Just think about how that looks to the customer when you do that.

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Cheap shortcuts

Here's another one. Taking shortcuts to get the job done. This could be due to a couple of reasons - time, and money. Unfortunately, this often leads to bigger problems down the road.

This is the one we dealt with. Out kitchen contractor decided to use some sort of cheaper bond to hold our floor tiles in, only for them to all come loose after the job was complete.

What's more, we learned it was the general contractors call to do this, not the sub contractor. Not a fun experience, especially after paying a lot of money for a job he decided to go cheap on.

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Blaming others for your actions

Once we got a hold of our general contractor about the issue, he sent a sub contractor to take a look (not the original guy who did the floor). Once inspected, the sub contractor told us the entre thing would have to be redone.

The sub contractor also apologized and said the general contractor would also have to come and look before any work can be done to correct the problem. So far so good.

But when the general contractor came, he couldn't have been any ruder. He refused to take responsibility for his team or his own decision to take a shortcut, and never once apologized.

In fact, he blamed his entire team, the materials, everything. But the fact that he didn't take accountability as the person in charge put a bad taste in our mouth. Don't blame others when it was your own decisions that led to the problem in the first place.

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Not honoring work

Fortunately for us, the contractor who did our kitchen honored his work and replaced the entire floor properly, even though he never apologized or took responsibility, while being rude at the same time.

An old co-worker of mine wasn't so lucky. They had a job done where something needed to be addressed, and their contractor wouldn't honor anything.

If you're going to do the work, you should honor and back it through a certain period of time. If you believe in your work, then this should never be an issue.

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Lack of communication

Here's another common one. How many in the state are ghosted after a job that was completed went wrong?

Like clockwork, issues spring up only after the job is complete, and the contractor completely blows you off. It's almost as if they left the country never to be seen or heard from again.

Or, when you're forwarded to voicemail only for the mailbox to be full? How convenient that you can't leave a message when you've been trying to reach the contractor with no avail.

This one also ties back to not honoring the work that was done. If you take pride and hold yourself to the proper standards, then why hide from the work you just performed?

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Necessary accountability

Look, not every contractor is the same, but there's a reason that as a whole they have a bad reputation. And it's primarily because of those reasons mentioned above that does it.

Yes, we can report bad actors, but it needs to go beyond that. How about required education for starters?

Think about it. In order to be allowed to do business in New Jersey, why not require certain courses to be taken? Make sure every contractor knows how to communicate properly with their clients, and mandate that they take a course in communication before being allowed to practice.

Subjects like follow up, and how to handle issues should also be a part of it. And should a problem arise after the job is done, learn how to follow up properly and not ghost or blame others.

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Retake if necessary

Much like driving where certain violations require additional courses before you can get your drivers license back, perhaps the same should be true for contractors. Due process, of course, would need to be part of it since some customers might be unreasonable.

But should the contractor be found in violation over any of the reasons above, for example, they should have to take a course in those fields in order to keep their license. If anything, perhaps something like this would act as a deterrent and help weed out the bad actors.

Again, it's not meant to make life harder for customers or contractors. But rather, to provide those contractors better tools when it comes to communication with customers and potential consequences for those who try to cheat their clients.

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The above post reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 Sunday morning host & content contributor Mike Brant. Any opinions expressed are his own.

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