Case # 14CM05644
Date: November 21, 2014
MAN WHO APPEARED ON HOME IMPROVEMENT TELEVISION SHOW SENTENCED FOR CONTRACTING WITHOUT LICENSE
SANTA ANA – A man was convicted and sentenced for home improvement contracting without a state license after appearing on the reality television show, “Catch a Contractor.” Myron Elliott Barker, 66, Irvine, pleaded guilty Nov. 19, 2014, to one misdemeanor count of home improvement contracting without a license and admitted to having a prior misdemeanor conviction in 2009 for the same offense. Barker was sentenced to 190 days in jail, three years of informal probation, and ordered to pay the homeowner-victim $10,000 in restitution.
Between June 23, 2013, and Aug. 21, 2013, Barker posed as a professional contractor for home improvement and kitchen remodeling. Barker did not have a valid state contractor’s license as required by law.
Barker solicited his experience, took thousands of dollars in construction funds from the victims in this case, and performed substandard and unpermitted work before abandoning the project.
The victims reported Barker to the Contractor’s State License Board, who investigated this case. While this case was being investigated, the victims were featured on the television show, “Catch a Contractor,” which included Barker being confronted on-camera about being an unlicensed contractor, performing substandard work, and abandoning the home improvement project.
In the spring of 2014, the episode aired and included segments where the show’s host offered to help Barker return to the home and complete the project, under supervision by a licensed contractor provided by the show. Barker kept all the construction money and appearance money paid to him by the show. He then abandoned the job again, left during the taping of the show, and did not return any of the money entrusted to him.
Deputy District Attorney James Young of the Code Enforcement Unit prosecuted this case.