Beware of Bruce Barner of Premier Renovations & Construction in Atlanta, GA. This crook takes a down payment from unsuspecting folk, and then vanishes. Check out his reports at Better Business Bureau.

Beware of a LOT of contractors in GA until they put the bill in place statewide that builders have to be licensed. I was @#$#%^& over by one 15 years ago that was smart enough to just mention lawyer to BBB, therefore, they do not create a file on those cases. I got to know folks in Sec. of State's office real well.....I helped to enact that bill, but it is still in the phases of being enacted to save people like me & the long list of others who have lost everything due to crooked, inexperienced "contractors".

You need to advise the Secretary of State's office about this Bruce Barner. Ed Rhodes was in charge of that licensing department and will do a lot about checking this guy out. Do it for the sake of others.

Sorry to hear about being taken by a contractor. But a big misconception of licensing is that it will stop this from happening. Forget about it. Unless the state requires only licensed contractors the ability to advertise. That they make it more then just a registration process which is only a cash cow for the state. That they set standards such as a set amount of years of experience to get the license. It will do nothing to stop these fraudulent contractors from working.
What it will do is cause several smaller companies to go out of business that do a honest job. It will cause the cost of repairs and remodeling to go up for those who remain in business as well as those who hire them. And do nothing to rid the environment of these snake oil salesmen.
Just to make my position clear. I do think licenses should be required in all states and I am certainly for it. It is just that the folks in the state houses around the country construct these things as a knee jerk reaction to a tax payers complaint. They are all quick to put into place Feel Good legislation that does NOTHING to help the average consumer only hurts the small guy trying to hammer out a living. No pun attended. There are only a few states that took licensing seriously. They constructed bills that have levels of licenses that separate the big guys from the small dad and son operations.
The bottom line is they should be putting effort into telling consumers HOW to hire a contractor. To make sure all the permits are properly done. That they do not pay excessive amounts of down payments before anyone even shows up. That they do not pay the final invoice until the building inspector checks the work and approves it. That they check all references. Even then there is no guarantee that your not going to be taken for a ride.

I would also tread very carefully about posting a contractors name on forums such as this as you may find yourself in more hot water then the contractor themselves. Even if your best intention is to help other folks from getting burned by this person or entity. AS much as you want to burn this person back for what they did to you in the form of public opinion, you would be much better off putting this anger into the courtroom against them.