NYC Department Of Consumer Affairs Receives Greatest Number Of Complaints Against Home Improvement Contractors Based In Brooklyn

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This is one distinction that Brooklyn shouldn't be proud of: NYC Department Of Consumer Affairs receives the greatest number of complaints against home improvement contractors based in Brooklyn.
To address the issue, Council Member Dan Garodnick, chairman of the New York City Council’s Consumer Affairs Committee, will be holding a hearing on "New York’s infamously unreliable home improvement contractors" at Brooklyn Borough Hall with an eye toward new rules.
Garodnick's office released this statement:
New Yorkers have expressed ongoing concerns about experiences with Home Improvement Contractors. The Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) ranks this industry - for the third year in a row - as the industry with the second highest number of DCA complaints, with many of those complaints concerning contractors operating without DCA licenses.
Customers have expressed frustration on a range of topics -- from being confused by legal documents to contractors simply walking off a job before it is finished. Some have cautioned that once a contractor has started a job, it becomes perilous to fire them and hire someone new, since most contractors are unwilling to sign documentation vouching for someone else’s work.
At this hearing in Brooklyn, the borough with the highest number of complaints against home improvement contractors, Chair Garodnick will explore new rules that would require home improvement contractors to use a model contract in their negotiations with consumers and to provide a written estimate of the work to be completed.
“It’s no secret that Home Improvement Contractors can be difficult, and the high number of complaints against them reveals a real problem," said Council Member Garodnick. “We want to give the maximum protections to consumers, and the Council is poised to act to do that.”
All New Yorkers are invited to share their experience with home improvement contractors and help explores ways to protect consumers from HIC scams. The hearing will be held on:

Wednesday, February 15 at 1:00pm 

at Brooklyn Borough Hall (209 Joralemon Street). 

 If you have any questions, or wish to testify at the hearing, please contact Consumer Affairs Committee Chair Council Member Garodnick's office at 212-788-7393 office at (212)-788-7393 or email the committee's consumer tip line at fightfraudnyc@gmail.com