Home Improvement Scams

In this era of recession, many people are looking for jobs, or are looking for a second job to pay the bills.  Most get a legal job, but one has to watch out for the con man.  In home improvement scams, the con man takes your money and doesn’t do the job to your satisfaction.

One scam is when a contractor knocks on your door and claim they have extra material from a job in your neighborhood.  They claim they have to get rid of the materials and if you let them use it on your house they will give you a discount.  If this were an honest contractor he would have bought the correct amount of supplies.  In fact, sometimes the cost of materials is put in the contract before the job begins.  An example of this is, Mrs Smith lives alone and is vulnerable. A Contractor realizes she is vulnerable. He goes to her door and tells her that her driveway needs resealed and he just happens to have some of the materials left over from another job and will put it on and give her a discount.  She pays him a lot o money, and he puts inferior products on and it gets bad after a few years. Thus, she  is cheated out of money.

Another scam is getting the money in cash before the job begins. Then usually they either don’t complete the job or won’t even show  up to do it.  An example of this is getting a person to pay the contractor before the work begins or after the contractor starts.  They then disappear and you are either left less some money and still need the home repaired, or leaves your house a mess and doesn’t come back to finish.

Sometimes a contractor quotes a price and the person signs the contract.  When they show up to do the project, they bring more expensive items and say they are out of the one originally agreed about.

Hopefully these tips will help you avoid a home scam and not waste your money on unethical contractors.