CARTHAGE, Tenn. (WTVF) — When Hannah Weilgos and her fiancé moved from Colorado and bought a newly built home in Carthage in 2024, they thought they had found their slice of the American dream. "It was like a little oasis," Weilgos said. "We loved it, it was quiet, everybody was nice."
But what began as a dream home quickly turned into a frustrating experience.
Weilgos said it doesn't take much rain to leave standing water across her backyard. "We've had water clear up to here before," she said.
She also said water intrusion has caused problems inside the home, including a leaking roof that is sending water through a front window. "So we have water damage there, that has obviously caused all of that. The water has dripped down here and caused water damage," Weilgos said.
As she searched for answers, Weilgos said she began looking into the people involved in building the home. "Pull up their names on the contractor website, and neither one of them have contractor licenses," she said.
Her experience led her to dig deeper into a broader issue: unlicensed contractors operating in Tennessee.
While reviewing monthly disciplinary reports from the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, NewsChannel 5 found more than 90 enforcement actions in 2026 involving alleged unlicensed contractor activity. The cases span communities across Tennessee and range from small civil penalties to fines totaling tens of thousands of dollars.
According to information provided by the department, the Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors received 858 complaints in 2025. State regulators took disciplinary action in 214 of those cases, resulting in more than $634,000 in civil penalties.
"And those are just the ones getting caught," Weilgos said.
State officials maintain they are enforcing Tennessee law. However, Weilgos believes more oversight may be needed to better protect homeowners. "If we would have known that, we would have never bought the house. We probably would have thought twice about moving to Tennessee," she said.
NewsChannel 5 also asked whether the state has enough resources to track down and punish unlicensed contractors. A Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance spokesperson declined to answer that question, saying funding and staffing decisions are made by lawmakers.
For Weilgos, the experience has been difficult. "It's demoralizing," she said.
Now, she hopes others can learn from what she has gone through. "Ask those questions, make sure your builder has a contractor license, because it is possible he really doesn't," Weilgos said.
In Tennessee, contractors generally are not required to hold a state contractor's license for projects valued at less than $25,000. Homeowners can verify whether a contractor is licensed using the state's online license lookup tool.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Chris.Davis@NewsChannel5.com.
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