About VerifiedADU

In early 2025, my parents faced a decision — a retirement facility or staying close to home. I wanted them nearby. Independent, but close enough that I could be there when it mattered. An ADU was the answer.

I’m David. Father of four, based in Sacramento.

I spent months studying California ADU law, permit requirements, contractor licensing, and consumer protection regulations. I did everything a responsible homeowner is supposed to do — verified the license on CSLB, read the reviews, compared bids.

One company rose to the top of my list. Nonna Homes. They had the brand, the story, the reviews. I was about to make the first call.

Then Nonna ADU’s licenses were suspended. Families had paid thousands of dollars. Some waited months without a single day of work on their property. Complaints came piling in. Nonna was collapsing.

All the research I’d done on Nonna went down the drain. We had to start over.

But I didn’t go back to researching ADU costs. I started researching the families who got hurt. Story after story — homeowners who verified the license, read every review, got multiple bids, and still lost everything.

Anchored Tiny Homes abandoned 450+ homeowners. $12.8 million in losses. Multitaskr took $15 million and built nothing. 600+ California homeowners defrauded across multiple companies.

These weren’t careless people. They did the research. The system failed them.

A license check on CSLB isn’t enough. Reviews can be manufactured. A professional website means nothing. The information homeowners need before they sign a contract and hand over a deposit didn’t exist in one place.

So I built it.

And I’m still building it. Every week, new contractors verified, bad ones removed, tools updated. This isn’t a finished product. It’s a living resource that gets better the more homeowners use it.

I’m not a corporation. I’m not a venture-backed startup. I’m not another directory that lists anyone with a website and a logo. I actually screen — CSLB license, bond, workers’ comp, complaint history, name changes — before a builder ever shows up here. No funnel. No spam. No surprises. Just screening.

I spent over a year cross-referencing CSLB records, documenting scam cases, and studying the California laws designed to protect homeowners. Every tool, guide, scam investigation, and verified listing on this site is free.

I built this for us.

Not for contractors, not for investors — for the homeowner who just wants to know the person they’re hiring is legitimate.

If we don’t look out for each other, who will?

— David, Founder of VerifiedADU