CityBiz features ACME’s Courtney Poulos in this article. Read more.
Courtney Poulos, founder and CEO of ACME Real Estate and a licensed broker with 20 years of experience, is calling for urgent reform of California’s contractor oversight system after losing $250,000 to contractor fraud despite taking every recommended precaution.
Poulos verified licenses, confirmed bonding and insurance, and documented everything in a detailed contract before beginning a renovation project. She still lost $250,000 when the contractor moved funds across state lines and continued operating in Florida.
“What I discovered is that even when you do everything right, the system isn’t designed to protect consumers,” said Poulos, who leads a boutique brokerage in Los Angeles that achieved $155M in sales volume in 2024 with a team of 35 agents.
The $25,000 Problem
At the heart of the issue is California’s contractor bonding requirement. State law mandates a $25,000 surety bond to protect consumers from financial losses due to contractor violations. The requirement hasn’t been updated to reflect modern construction costs.
“Twenty-five thousand dollars doesn’t always cover the cost of cabinets in a kitchen renovation,” Poulos points out. In her case, the $250,000 project left her with approximately $15,000 from the bond because other victims had already filed claims against the same contractor.
“Multiple consumers can be drawing from that single $25,000 pool,” she explains. “If someone else already claimed $5,000, there’s only $20,000 left for everyone else.”
Recent news coverage has highlighted the growing issue across California. A KTLA investigation into one contractor scam generated hundreds of comments from victims sharing similar experiences. In Dallas, a couple posing as contractors recently defrauded investors of $5 million.
Licensing Loopholes Create Gray Areas
Poulos also discovered California allows licensed contractors to sublease their licenses to unlicensed individuals. “At the company that scammed me, there was one contractor license rented out to multiple individuals who functioned as sales agents,” she explains.
Homeowners believe they’re working with a licensed, bonded contractor, but the person they’re dealing with directly may not hold the license themselves. “It creates opportunities for people to operate in this gray area,” Poulos says.
The Enforcement Gap
When Poulos attempted to report the fraud, the LAPD classified her case as a civil contract dispute rather than criminal fraud. The FBI showed limited interest once it became clear the contractor had moved funds across state lines.
After four years and approximately $50,000 in legal fees, her attorneys delivered difficult news: pursuing the case further would likely cost more than she could recover. She eventually stopped pursuing the case, knowing the contractor continues to operate in Florida.
Advocating for Reform
Poulos is advocating for several reforms: increasing the $25,000 bond to reflect current construction costs and indexing it to inflation, eliminating or strictly regulating license subleasing, improving interstate coordination for fraud prosecution, and establishing a state recovery fund similar to other states.
She has written to California’s Attorney General outlining these concerns, though she has had no response. California has made some recent efforts to address contractor accountability through new disclosure laws requiring property sellers to identify all licensed and unlicensed contractors who performed work, but enforcement remains inconsistent.
Consumer Protection Advice
Poulos offers practical advice for homeowners: verify licenses directly with the Contractors State License Board at cslb.ca.gov, check bond history for existing claims, structure payments around completed milestones rather than large upfront deposits, obtain multiple bids, document everything in writing, and consider escrow services for larger projects.
“People hear ‘licensed, bonded, and insured’ and think they’re fully protected,” Poulos says. “But if that bond is $25,000 and your project is $200,000, you need to understand what that really means.”
Poulos discussed contractor fraud in detail on her industry podcast “The Clean Close,” available on the ACME Real Estate YouTube channel.
“This is happening to homeowners every day across California,” she emphasizes. “The more people understand the limitations of current protections, the more pressure there will be to modernize these requirements.”
About ACME Real Estate
ACME Real Estate, founded in 2011, is a boutique brokerage in Los Angeles specializing in residential real estate, luxury properties, and renovation-resale strategy for investors. The brokerage achieved $155M in sales volume in 2024 with 35 agents and provides comprehensive services including in-house design, marketing, and transaction support. Learn more at acmeflorida.com.
ACME Real Estate | Los Angeles Boutique Real Estate Brokerage