Police: Man posed as contractor, swindled family

A man is facing grand theft charges after police said he conned a Tampa family out of nearly $10,000.

Officers said Richard Goodwin, 56, had agreed to remodel the south Tampa home belonging to Salvadore and Carol Papia to accomodate their daughter, who was diagnosed with lupus several years ago.

According to reports, Goodwin agreed in May to do the work for $8,000. The Papias paid him $4,600 up front and bought $5,258 worth of materials for the job, police said.

On July 15, Goodwin demanded more money from the couple, who refused to pay him because he had not made progress on the home, police said.

The Papias said the garage still had unfinished drywall, gaping holes and exposed wiring.

"We had a written contract drawn up by the gentleman," Papia said. "But as the weeks progressed, in five weeks we lost 8 thousand dollars on a project as you can see is no where near completed"

Investigators said Goodwin then made verbal threats against the couple and their daughter, then called the city inspector and complained they were remodeling the home without permits.

The city inspector then informed the family that Goodwin was not a licensed contractor and advised them to call the police department.

According to the report, undercover officers contacted Goodwin for a home improvement job, but he told them he was busy doing charity work for an ill woman in south Tampa.

Investigators said the officers managed to arrange a meeting with Goodwin for an estimate. After they said he provided him with an estimate, the officers arrested him.

Goodwin is facing charges of grand theft and contracting without a license.

Before hiring a contractor

Investigators urge people who want to do some remodeling to determine whether the contractor are licensed before doing so.

• Get the person's full name and/or license number.
• Visit myfloridalicense.com, and click on "verify a license" tab.
• Search by name or license number. If he or she can't be found, it means no license exists in state records.
• If you can find a license, make sure the information the contractor gave you matches state files.
• Click on the "view license complaint" tab and see if anyone has filed a complaint about the contractor.