SACRAMENTO, CA – The Contractors State License Board (CSLB) is warning consumers to be aware of home improvement loan scams after three people were arrested on related charges in Los Angeles County.
CSLB investigators worked with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office to charge three people in a scam that cost lenders $3.4 million. The suspects, Norbertas Sinica of Thousand Oaks, Selena Garcia of Riverside, and Kelliams S. Chavistad of Long Beach, face dozens of felony charges for residential burglary, financial elder abuse, identity theft, grand theft, and more.
CSLB investigators say Sinica owned and operated Eco Technology, whose license has been revoked by CSLB, while Garcia and Chavistad worked to solicit customers. Eco Technology advertised tankless water heaters and other energy-efficient products.
Consumers were allegedly told the company would provide energy efficient upgrades that would cost them nothing. Eco Technology would allegedly collect the customers’ information and use it to apply for loans through the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program for Eco Technology’s benefit. PACE allows property owners to finance energy improvement projects as a tax assessment on their property tax bills. Later, the customers would receive tax bills that had increased.
In a separate case, the California Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission recently announced a settlement with Ygrene, a clean energy financing company, resolving…
