In plastic bags is the mold that grew in Jim Bombard's house over the last ten months ever since a contractor he hired to fix his roof wound up making things worse.

"After he had the trusses up, he was done for the night, and didn't tarp the roof. The next morning, he showed up and tried tarping the roof, but he didn't make it before it rained, and all the rain got inside my house," he said.

This ruined over $100,000 worth of his stuff. He won't say who the contractor was, but he did say a settlement is on the table for $44,000. And, he'd still be out at least $60,000.

"It should be enough money to get the mold out of the living area that I have to deal with day to day. I'll have to repair the rest of it as I can afford it."

"Unfortunately, the state says Jim is only one of thousands who experience something like this with a building contractor."

"The consumer is paying hard-earned dollars for good work, and oftentimes unfortunately, they're left holding the bag with poor work or incomplete work," said Consumer Protection Board Chairwoman Mindy Bockstein said.

Bockstein is holding hearings around New York to figure out what's going wrong. She spots these common mistakes: hiring without a second reference, paying with cash up front, and not linking payment to work completed. But, Bombard claims he was careful and still got taken. He spotted another hole.

"To be a barber you need a license, to inspect cars in this state you need a license, to be a contractor you spend $15 to get a DBA, and you're a contractor," Bombard said.

Licenses for contractors is an idea the Consumer Protection Board is considering.