California contractor ordered to pay $115,000 in fines for unfinished accessibility project

From KGO-TV:

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Judgment day has come for a contractor accused of abandoning a home remodeling project that left a wheelchair-bound student without a handicap ramp.

Victor Trapps of Trappco General Contractors has been ordered to pay more than $115,000 in fines. He's also banned from getting his suspended contractors license back for at least five years.

For more than 18 months, Edward Goodlow had no easy way to leave his home. The backdoor from his bedroom lead to a big drop after a contractor suddenly stopped work on a home remodeling project.

Edward didn't get his handicap ramp back until volunteers from Rebuilding Oakland Together showed up last April to finish the work the contractor abandoned.

"It's real good, because it's easier for me to just go around and just be safe around here," he said.

Now the Contractors State License Board has ordered the contractor, Victor Trapps, to pay $115,000 and $69,000 will go towards restitution to the family.

"It is wonderful. It is so much less stress on me and my family to know that everything has finally been taken care of and it's to an end," Edward's mom, Leora Clay said.

Edward's family has fought for two years to get justice. His grandmother paid the contractor $91,000 to renovate her home for her grandson.

For now, Victor Trapps has been suspended from the contracting business.

"It was egregious and as a licensing agency we don't want him out there doing this again," Venus Stromberg from the Contractors State License Board.

7 On Your Side helped to bring this case to the state's attention when the family was desperately seeking help.

"I'm grateful most of all for Edward because like I said before, he locked him in the backroom where he didn't have access to get out of the back door. That was bad," Edward's grandmother Gracie Madden said.

As for Edward, he's most happy for his grandmother.

"My grandma really does deserve the best. So, you don't treat a woman like that," he said.