Spring is prime time for home repairs — and that makes it prime time for outright scams or frustrating disputes. You can take action to avoid both problems.
Home repair scams by traveling con-artists work like this: Con-artists stop at your door, give you a hard sell, and offer sensational low prices. It might be for roofing or painting, tree-trimming, or asphalting your driveway with material supposedly “left over” from a job nearby. The con-artists insist that you pay in advance — but they do little or no work and never return. Remember, legitimate contractors very rarely solicit door-to-door. Be skeptical. The main rules are to check out a contractor, and never pay large sums in advance to a contractor you don’t know. Help older neighbors who might be pressured or intimidated into paying traveling con-artists.
A few ‘bad-apple’ local contractors also take large advance payments but fail to do the work, or do just part of a job or very shoddy work. This is hard to prove as fraud, but it’s costly and frustrating. Follow these tips to protect yourself when you hire a contractor:
Beware of high-pressure sales...