Contractor Scams Explained
By Mart Gil Abareta, Fri Dec 9th
Just like in your personal belongings, you always want yourhomes to always look good, be organized, and receive goodimpressions from other people. Every time, little repairs suchas leaks, broken window glasses, etc. need to be done, you arealways pressured to fix these things immediately. And because ofthis, contractor scams happen to you sometimes without yourknowledge. It will only be later that you’ll realize that youhave been fooled by these fraudulent individuals.
How do contractor scams happen? Well, it’s something like this…
First, a contractor calls on the phone or knocks on your doorand offers to install a new roof or remodel your kitchen at aprice that sounds reasonable. You tell him you’re interested,but can’t afford it. He tells you it’s no problem – he canarrange financing through a lender he knows. You agree to theproject and the contractor begins work.
At some point after the contractor begins, you are asked to signa lot of papers. The papers may be blank or the lender may rushyou to sign before you have time to read what you’ve been givento sign. You sign the papers. Later, you realize that the papersyou signed are a home equity loan. The interest rate, points andfees seem very high. To make matters worse, the work on yourhome isn’t done right or hasn’t been completed, and thecontractor, who may have been paid by the lender, has littleinterest in completing the work to your satisfaction.
Truly, this is terrible! Giving away a little of your trust tothese people to simply do little repairs in your homes willlater cost you a lot. The worst thing – you’ll not even get theright service that you deserve. A big headache, really…
Know what, not all contractors operate within the law. I havehere are some tip-offs to potential rip-offs. A less thanreputable contractor solicits door-to-door, offers you discountsfor finding other customers, just happens to have materials leftover from a previous job, only accepts cash payments, asks youto get the required building permits, does not list a businessnumber in the local telephone directory, tells you your job willbe a "demonstration", pressures you for an immediate decision,offers exceptionally long guarantees, asks you to pay for theentire job up-front, and suggests that you borrow money from alender the contractor knows.
After reading this article, I just hope that nobody else willbecome a victim of these contractor scams. Let us all be carefuleven with the small things – such as these home repair stuff –we engage with.
About the author:For your questions and suggestions and for more informationregarding this article, log-on to http://www.personalinjurylawyerinc.com
