HOUSTON -- You trust them with your home, your business and ultimately your safety. Electrical contractors are a critical part of many home and business improvement plans.

The question is, how much do you really know about the man you hired? Does he know what he is doing? Does he have insurance? Does he have a criminal history?

The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation tells KPRC Local 2 if he does not have a license, you may not figure out something is wrong until it is too late.

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TLDR: Check Contractor's License

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"Worst-case scenario: He does work on your house, does it in a non-workman-like manner, your house burns down," one undercover TDLR investigator said.

Recently, the TDLR organized a sting operation just outside of Houston and caught 22 unlicensed contractors offering to perform work.

"The objective is to contact unlicensed leads and obtain a written proposal to perform air-conditioning and electrical services," said Haregewyn Demoz, an investigator with TDLR.

It was not hard to draw unlicensed contractors to the fake job site. Many of them advertise in local papers and online at places like Craigslist.com.

"Once they advertise, we already have them breaking the law. We have them before they walk through the door," an undercover investigator told Local 2.

It is illegal in Texas to perform or offer to perform electrical work without a license. But in Texas, unlicensed contractors are not taken to jail. Instead, they receive a hefty fine. The rule breaking is not considered a criminal act. Many never pay the fine, which can be up to $3,000.

One contractor told Wheel of Justice reporter Joel Eisenbaum, "I thought the laws of the state were to help the people, not hurt the people. It (expletive) me off."

That contractor told KPRC Local 2 he was trying to make an honest living.

State investigators said unlicensed electrical contractors take work from honest, properly licensed contractors.

Texas state licensed contractors have their backgrounds checked, are required to be insured and are tested about subject matter and safety.

Unlicensed contractors have not necessarily gone through any of these steps and as one investigator put it, "these are people that are going to be in your home."