From ‘junk’ mail to e-mail spam, if someone believes they can sell you something in a message, they will find a way. Are you a disabled veteran? A major business expo for contractors with military service is just around the corner. New developments in how the Board handles fingerprinting may be one way for contractors to measure whether change is an ‘improvement’ in serving the industry…
Q: We just registered our company in CA. I recently received a document entitled: “Annual Minutes Disclosure Statement” that must be remitted by next week. It asks for the street address of principal place of business in CA. Do I put your office as my rep in the state? I also received a number of items regarding my license application. It’s hard to tell if these mailings are from the State or a private company.
A: When any corporation registers to do business in CA, or for that matter when anyone files an application with the CSLB, your business name and address become available to the public. Unfortunately, this generates an onslaught of ‘junk’ mail. If you read the fine print, I believe you’ll see this is a solicitation and not related to any state agency. Since you are registered as a foreign corporation in CA, anything to do with “annual minutes” would involve your home state. As for your license application, I am always warning my clients to be careful when responding to correspondence appearing to be from the Contractors Board. I repeat: Read the fine print.
Q: We just applied for a contractor’s license to transfer my sole owner license into our new corporation. I know we must get fingerprinted and was told the Board would be sending out the fingerprint information soon. We are in a big hurry to get his new license and plan on getting our fingerprinting done next week. Do you think the timing will work?
A: The timing will work for you unfortunately it may not for anyone applying after June 1, 2007. According to a memo I just received from the Contractors Board, they have changed their fingerprinting procedure. To cut down on ‘rejects’ due to applicant changes in personnel, transposed Social Security numbers, incorrect dates of birth, etc. when printing the Live Scan forms, the application must now be ‘posted’ (acceptable) BEFORE the CSLB sends out the fingerprint information.
Previously these forms were sent 7-10 days after the application was RECEIVED by the CSLB. This enabled applicants like you — who do not need to take an exam — to get fingerprinted while your application was waiting to be reviewed. As we discussed, (assuming there are no issues with your application or fingerprints) this new procedure will likely add 2-3 weeks to the licensing process. According to the Board, they expect this new process will cut down on the delays experienced due to Criminal Background Unit (CBU) review for the majority of applicants.
Special Note: According to a press release, the non-profit DVBE Alliance holds “Keeping the Promise 2007” in Anaheim this June 13th and 14th. Visit www.cadvbe.org. Over 1000 face-to-face, seller-to-buyer ‘matchmaking’ sessions are expected with regulated utilities, State and Federal agencies and scores of private industry companies seeking DVBE contractors for a wide range of goods and services.