Unlicensed contractor derailed bathroom remodel, homeowner says

When a Raleigh woman’s bathtub leak caused part of her ceiling to collapse, she hired a contractor to repair and upgrade her bathroom.

The woman, we’re only identifying as Emma, hired Eric Wright, owner of The Wright Allure, to do the project and some other work around her house for nearly $44,000.

Construction was well underway before Emma said she started noticing missed deadlines and construction errors.

"He says, ‘Oh, I forgot to install a whole waterline here, and I forgot to install the whole hand-held [shower] unit here,’" Emma explained.

After she says Wright told her the shower was ready to use, there was another leak.

"There was water all over the first-floor ceiling again," Emma recalled.

She was filing an insurance claim when she realized Wright wasn’t licensed. That’s when she says she stopped the project and reached out to 5 On Your Side.

When our team started digging around, we found Emma was listed as the "builder" on permits for the project and had signed an Owner Exemption Affidavit.

"That’s to afford that property owner the ability to perform work on their property without having to have a general contractors license," explained Frank Wiesner, Executive Director of the NC Licensing Board for General Contractors.

Anyone doing a construction project over $40,000 in North Carolina needs a contractor’s license, but there is an exception. A homeowner can sign an Owner Exemption Affidavit to become their own contractor without a license.

Wiesner couldn’t comment on this case but told WRAL News the affidavit is abused frequently across the state. Unlicensed contractors convince homeowners to sign it because it enables them to get required permits they otherwise couldn’t get.

"That should be bells, whistles and red flags all over the place," Wiesner said about a contractor asking you to sign an Owner Exemption Affidavit.

Emma says she didn’t realize what the Owner Exemption Affidavit was when she signed it; she also questioned where the notary stamp came from because there wasn’t a notary present when she signed.

Emma filed a claim against Wright’s insurance, and they paid out nearly $20,000 to fix problems with Wright’s faulty work and the damage it caused.

She also filed several complaints, including one with the NC Secretary of State claiming a fraudulent notarization on the affidavit.

"If I knew I wouldn’t have paid him, I wouldn’t have given him my life savings to do this with my bathroom," Emma said. "You know what I’m saying, I want a real licensed general contractor to work on this."

We spoke to Wright on the phone, he denied abusing the affidavit but he did admit to getting it notarized without Emma present. That could be considered misconduct by the notary. The North Carolina Secretary of State is investigating that now.

There are a few things to consider when hiring a contractor. If the contractor asks you to sign an Owner Exemption Affidavit or tells you to pull permits, that’s a big red flag.

Closely read any document before signing. It’s a class F felony for a homeowner to willfully commit perjury on that Owner Exemption Affidavit.