HOME IMPROVEMENT SCAM

We were always visited by natural calamities, flood especially typhoon. It is the hardest moment of our lives as we lost our home and most of our personal properties. Typhoon will not respect even how concrete the foundation of our home. We have to rebuild what has been lost. We have to make another small but decent house to live.

This is the moment the scam artist make his move. He knew that people that were hardest hit by typhoon were desperate. He started to manipulate the situation by offering help to repair or construct a house.

He posed as a contractor of the house. He will facilitate immediate repair of the house if agreed under his terms and conditions. He will supply experienced worker so that the construction is a good one.

He is not aware of contractor’s true intention. He desired to construct the house without further delay because they were temporarily sheltered in the sport center with government help.

The contractor gives his quotation for labor and materials. He can supply the materials taken from other sources. The contractor asked partial payment for labor and materials. The owner gave the initial amount without any doubt about him.

They agreed that the construction will start on certain date 5 days from the date of their agreement. But the contractor did not appear on the scheduled date. He can’t be found anywhere bringing with him the first payment in the construction of the house.

What to Do

-Work only with licensed contractor not a fly-by-night contractor roaming around the community looking for person to victimize.

-If anyone is trying to offer construction job and you don’t know him personally then investigate. Ask him about his credentials, the place where he lived, his work references and his license as a contractor of the house. If he is not, he can’t show you anything. If in doubt, personally verify his claim.

-A licensed contractor will not roam around. He has his own office, a company he led and men to handle. The bogus contractor worked alone, secretive and cautious of other men. Watch all this signs.

-Ask him to show you police clearance. You will know if he is clean or not.

-Do not immediately agree without taking initiative to verify his personal life.

-Saving cost of repair is useless if you only lost money more than you are trying to save. It may be costly to have licensed contractor but you are assured that your money will be in good hands.