Home improvement contractorShort for ?general contractor? a contractor is an individual hired by a homeownerUsually the name-on-the-mortgage/pays-the-bills person, the homeowner is the one who contacts the contractor to do a jobA job is a term for whatever tasks are in the contract for the contractor to do. These are generally more specific than ?home maintenance? and usually are broken down into a scope of work which contains each individual task such as plumbing, electrical, or drywall. They are the point person for Safepact on things like funding the transaction, approving the work, and releasing payment to the contractor. or an architect to oversee work that is being done on a home. Sometimes the work will be done by the contractor, but often times the contractor will hire subcontractors to do some or all of the work. For a more detailed explanation of contractors and their responsibilities read more about it on our blog. fraud is a common problem in every state across the country.? Processing homeowner complaints of contractor malfeasance is a large part of the workload for the Better Business Bureau as well as the state?s Attorney General and district attorney.? In many regions contractor fraud is a punishable felony offense and also a civil crime.? This pervasive fraud is aggressively prosecuted by the authorities, yet the victim rarely receives restitution and they often have the added problem of shoddy repairs to resolve after the shady contractor has run off with their money.
For a large number of homeowners, particularly senior citizens, home improvement and repair projects are very stressful in their own right.? There are the estimates, the decisions to make, the money to arrange, and an assortment of complexities to consider.? These processes can cause many a homeowner to wish for a simple solution and this exposes ones vulnerable side.? Most con artists have practiced their craft on many victims and are keen to immediately spot a vulnerability and take advantage of it.
Truly, there?s not much you can do to recover your losses when you are a victim of contractor fraud because the perpetrators are usually repeat offenders with whom the authorities have been unsuccessful in stopping their scams.? I have a good deal of personal experience as a lender encountering contractor fraud in the general course of my career.? While researching this article, I found approximately 38 states have strict licensingJust like a driver?s license certain contractors must be licensed to do particular jobs associated with your home improvement project. Plumbing and electrical licenses are two of the main licenses to keep track of. Also like a driver?s license the requirements to gain a license vary from state to state, so make sure your contractor is licensed in your state. Some counties and even municipalities can require licensing. requirements and laws in place to aimed at curbing contractor fraud.? The sad reality is no law can eliminate criminals from perpetrating their acts but measures are needed to make it troublesome for those who wish to commit fraud.
In an attempt to be concise in a busy world the intent of this article is to convince you to think rationally and cautiously when selecting your home improvement contractor.? Some of this information will be very helpful to know what to avoid.
Door to Door Sales Pitches- Never allow anyone who comes to your door soliciting home repair service. This is very common after a storm and often comes from a skilled out of town scammer who is an expert at skimming a group of unsuspecting homeowners out of large sums of money.
Verbal Quote Only- By all means avoid the contractor who offers a slick verbal explanation of the projectA home improvement project is anything associated with improving, maintaining, or renovating your home. This is the specific reason that you hired the contractor and the job that they are completing. but is too excited about immediately starting your project or pre-occupied with a project in close proximity to yours.? A fast talking proposal without a written description of the work and cost of the project is a recipe for disaster.
Out of Town Contractor- Generally it is best to avoid using the services of an out of town contractor or tradesman.? Most of the time these individuals or teams come to an area after a violent storm and look to clean up on desperate and unsophisticated homeowners who are distressed about the storm damage.? There is little that can be done to recover any damages or leverage that can be placed on out of town contractors to return to the site to complete work.
Material Overruns- Many scam artist contractors will knock on doors in an area and present homeowners with an Incredible Offer to perform a certain job because they just happen to have the exact materials left over from another job.? Many times the materials are on a trailer that they can show you and by being at the right place at the right time this deal is available to you.? Legitimate remodeling contractors do not ride around with materials in their truck looking for folks to offer the deal of the day.? Most of these con men have either stolen the material or come about? it in some other nefarious manner.? There have been some cases where the stolen materials had to be removed or paid for a second time to the rightful owner.
Home Improvement contractor fraud is a very common problem in all areas of the country.? There are many scammers out there committing this type of fraud because home repair and improvement projects usually amount to larger sums of money on average so it presents an opportunity for the scammers to hit it big.? As with everything in life there absolute means to prevent from being a victim of fraud but a measure of common sense combined with current information about common fraud techniques will provide you with a level of confidence to notice a situation which does not pass the smell test and help you avoid the grief and financial setback of being a home repair fraud victim.? Many municipalities and states have taken a very proactive approach to preventing home contractor fraud.? There are some stringent regulations and licensing requirements that legitimate contractors must adhere to but these regulations can only go so far and much of the responsibility is up to the homeowner.? Sadly most of the regulations can not prevent scam victims from suffering significant financial losses from being victimized by fraud.? At the end of the day the most damage resulting in home repair fraud is typically the financial hardship created by the loss of money to the perpetrator and the cost of remediating the damage caused to the property as a result of a shoddy and or incomplete repair.? We all have experienced aggravation and bruised egos by being taken advantaged of in the past but a significant financial loss can be a burden of long term consequence.
About the author: Ryan Johnston has served many homeowners home improvement financing needs over the past 10 years.? In his position as a commercial lender with a community bank in the southeast he was responsible for originating and overseeing the funding process of residential construction and home improvement loans.? He has hands on experience dealing with the challenges and joys homeowners experience in the construction and home improvement process.
Source: http://blog.safepact.com/articles/avoiding-remodeling-contractor-fraud/
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Source: http://imogendsouzaa.posterous.com/avoiding-remodeling-contractor-fraud-safepact
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