It’s Summertime – Beware of Home Repair Scams
For seniors, summer should be a time for relaxing, enjoying family visits, puttering in the yard or garden, and perhaps taking a trip or two. But unfortunately, with the warm weather comes a common door-to-door scam that many folks–young and old–fall victim to.
Home repair and yard work scams pick up over the summer months as scammers take advantage of cooperative weather. The premise is simple: a scammer shows up at the door asking if you’ve got any repairs to be done, offering services like painting or roofing, or wanting to do specific tasks like cleaning gutters or chimneys, mowing or raking the yard, etc.
As noted in a recent AARP Fraud Watch alert, the scammer will generally ask for payment upfront and then one of three things will happen: they’ll disappear with the money before even starting the job, they’ll do the work but it will be shoddy, or they’ll demand more money to finish the job. Regardless of the outcome, the victim will lose money and in some cases, have more repairs to do than in the first place.
How can seniors avoid being duped by predatory home repair scammers? If the contractor or worker uses high pressure tactics, wants to avoid permits, won’t put anything in writing, or demands payment up front, those are all red flags. Another suspicious scenario is the contractor who shows up after a major storm to capitalize on all the homes needing urgent repairs.
Before hiring contractors or workers for any type of home repair or yard work, it’s wise to get referrals from friends and family, get agreements in writing, and check with the Better Business Bureau to see if any complaints have been made against the company you’re considering.
Left undone, routine home maintenance and small repairs can become big, expensive problems. Proactively helping the seniors in your life to plan for upcoming or anticipated home repairs is critical. Having the contact information for trusted handyman for small repairs is also a wise idea.