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HOME REPAIRS |
Beware of someone knocking on your door offering you a
great deal on home repairs or they may be an
out-of-State contractor working an area damaged by a
storm; you may be the target of a scam. |
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Use
your home as a display/demonstration home
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Contractor not from your local area
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Requires advanced payment
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Doing work in neighborhood have extra materials from
another job
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Scare or pressure tactics
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Company has no address or Telephone number
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Company/Individual not bonded/insured/licensed
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Free
or low cost inspection
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Asks
you to get any required building permits
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Project includes financing
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Low ball bid to get the job
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Offers exceptionally long guarantees
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Suggests you borrow money from a lender the
contractor knows
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Only accepts cash
payments
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We have a special
limited-time offer
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Large cancellation clause
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You are asked to pay for a significant
percentage/all of the job in advance
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Special % off repair without stating bottom-line
price
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Door to door person appears wants to give you free
estimate to repair your roof
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Refuses to give a written estimate or contract
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Offers discounted
price for referrals if you buy today
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Requires advanced
payment
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Happen to have a new
unit available on their truck
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Playing up fears
about disease from mold
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Offer of a
substantial discount if you buy a new unit now.
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Offers you discounts
if you find other customers
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Talks too fast so as to confuse you and pressures
you to sign a contract immediately
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Precautions
You Should Take |
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Contractor must be in
charge of obtaining permits.
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Contractor giving a quote without an
doing an on-site assessment.
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Contractor sends you a letter
specifying that
your roof needs repair.
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Free Inspections always
have strings attached.
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Must
have contract start and end dates.
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Make sure that you have legal guarantees that exist during and after
construction.
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If wide
spread damage in your area, be wary of someone
pushing a cheap rate.
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Do not sign a contract
before your insurance company gives authorization.
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Contractor offers to drive
you to the bank to withdraw funds to pay for the work.
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Beware of people charging
a fee to help you complete disaster assistance forms,
such as FEMA or SBA, or obtaining assistance checks
(these services are offered free by those
organizations).
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Government Grant Offers
for a fee (they never charge a fee).
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Advance fee loans are
illegal.
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Avoid offers for free
home water testing.
TO FILE A COMPLAINT GO TO THE
COMPLAINTS SECTION BY CLICKING HERE
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Playing up fears about disease from
mold.
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Need to dig out your entire foundation and waterproof it.
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Any type of work where a contactor claims it has to be done immediately.
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Termites problems found but not from your pest service
company.
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Bathroom pipes are broken
and need to be replaced - get a second opinion.
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Individuals pose as
inspectors, city officials or police and use scare
tactics to try and force you to have repairs made on
your furnace, chimney, water heater or the electrical
wiring in your home-grt s reputable inspector
Credentials Are For Your Protection |
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Failure to present valid license and identification
documents.
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Contractor
arrives in an unmarked vehicle, or seeks repair work
door-to-door.
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Determine
how long the company been in business, ask for
references and you determine by investigation if the company licensed, bonded, and insured
in your State.
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Check the
complaint history with your county's consumer protection
agency.
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Insist on
references from a contractor and check them to see if
the work was done properly, on schedule, and within the
contract price.
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Ask to see
its certificate of insurance, state or local licenses,
liability workers compensation insurance and check if
still valid.
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Guarantee a
legally binding
warranty in writing.
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Get a signed
legitimate printed contract.
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Don't sign
any contract with blanks.
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Pay only
with check or credit card.
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Check with your insurance company to make sure your
policy covers the repairs and have your insurance
adjuster estimate the damage and probable cost to
repair.
Financial Issues Need To
Be Checked Very Carefully |
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If you need financing to
pay for home repairs, shop around first. Be wary of
credit life insurance and credit disability insurance
as these can be very expensive and are rarely needed.
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Check all bills for phony
or inflated charges that will make up your monthly payments.
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Overdue balances error.
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Insurance companies
employ their own adjusters. They'll evaluate your
property damage and help walk you through the claims
process free of charge.
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Service fees may just be
made up to get unnecessary money from you
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Adds phony charges to
loan principle, only disclosed at pay-off and after
accruing large amounts of interest.
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Withholding some loan
proceeds while forcing you to make monthly payments for
the entire loan amount.
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Foreclosing on
borrowers who were in compliance with their loan terms.
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Get at least three
estimates.
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When are payments due?
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Get a lien release - if
the contractor has your money but hasn't paid for the
supplies, you will be liable for what is unpaid
(get dual signature
checks).
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Altering the contract in
the middle of the project.
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Suspiciously low prices.
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Don't pay for bids! Reputable contractors
rarely charge you for bidding.
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Don't pay extra when a
contractor says the cost of materials has suddenly
increased.
Air-Conditioning Scams Are Easy To Do So
Watch Out For These Scams |
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Your A/C gas is bad and must be changed
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You need to purchase a new A/C unit because your old one is worn out
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A/C needs to be topped off with Freon because it is low
(does not find the leak)
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Offer of a substantial discount if you buy a new unit
now
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Uses smaller diameter copper than the system requires or
piece together copper tubes
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Don't have to use a new condenser the old one will do
just fine (wrong)
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Doesn't evacuate the air conditioning system before
putting in gas
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Have a new unit available on truck at a good price
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Use a lower SEER (efficiency rating) evaporator coil than the air
conditioning is rated for.
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Troubleshoot before requiring service: thermostat,
electrical breaker tripped, wintertime power shut off
switch flipped and filters need changing.
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Check if A/C is still under warrantee.
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Always get a written estimate.
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NOTICE: We provide this Encyclopedia
as a public service. Unfortunately we do not have the manpower to answer
all of your emails or questions on specific topics. We, therefore, do not
post our telephone number or address as all our communications are
through email.
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www.stopthescam.org |
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