Watch out for home-repair scammers
Baltimore County police want everyone to be on their guard for scam artists posing as home-repair specialists. After the beating our region took from the back-to-back snowstorms in February, the department figures more homeowners are in the market for maintenance work -- and in danger of falling for a con artist.
The police are talking about people who do shoddy work with lousy materials, particularly those who convince homeowners to take them on with a verbal agreement and then demand more money afterward.
"When the customer objects, he or she is told that the materials used were stolen and the police will be brought in if the higher price isn’t paid," the county police said in a statement. They urged people to call 911 if they suspect scam artists are at work in the area.
The National Association of Bunco Investigators has more details about these sorts of scams, including warning signs. (Offered a "special price" if you sign up on the spot? Run away.)
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Comments
I yhink that the best advice that i would give anyone is to ask for references. If they are legit they shouldnt even hesitate to give a potential customer at least three.
And if its a big job the customer might want to see if the contractor has insurance.
If they do then there is a good chance that they arent just a con artist.And if something does go wrong[which can happen even with honest contractors] then at least the contractor's insurance will pay for it.
A customer should ask to actually see the insurance Title Page.And if a contractor says that they are licensed then they should be able to provide their MHIC number.Its actually required by law for me and other contractors to have our MHIC number on our business card and on any company vehicle that displays the name of our company.
Posted by: Pete from Highlandtown | April 7, 2010 4:00 PM
This is alarming, especially for homeowners whose properties need a lot of work, but can't afford to hire specialists. It's better to hire a professional an pay a bit more, than to hire someone who offers services for less, but will scam you in the end.
Posted by: Property Hanoi | October 26, 2010 11:43 PM