As spring draws near, beware home-improvement fraud

Soon the snow will begin to melt and Mainers will start thinking about home repair jobs that can be done best in good weather. And, as has been our experience for 30 years, COMBAT inevitably will receive calls from consumers cheated by home improvement frauds. No one is immune, but senior citizens living alone are favorite targets.

Typical examples of home-improvement fraud are: a roof repair that turns out to be just tar slopped onto existing shingles; siding that is installed poorly and the job not completed; or a driveway that looks bad or begins to crack and fall apart soon after installation.

These worthless jobs can cost a consumer from several hundred to several thousand dollars, and too often the victims are people who can’t afford such a loss or have used their life savings to pay for the repairs. These personal tragedies can be avoided by following a few simple protective steps.

Your first hint that a home repair outfit might not be legitimate is if your first contact with the company is by door-to-door solicitation. Most reputable home-improvement businesses do not do business door to door; they advertise and let consumers contact them. If someone comes to your door offering to perform home repairs, do not sign a contract or pay for anything until you check their reputability.

Ask them for a letterhead, business card or other printed information that proves they have a local office and maintain a business. Do not agree to anything until you have a chance to call their business address and verify that they maintain a local office. Contact COMBAT, the Chamber of Commerce or other home-improvement businesses to learn what they know about the “company” that came to your door.

Make sure you get a written estimate that clearly states the work to be done before you agree to have the work done. Get estimates with other local companies and compare prices for equal work.

If a contract is for permanent home improvements, Maine law says the seller may not even begin work until three days have expired.

Finally, do not pay until you carefully examine the work for which you contracted and are certain it has been completed to your satisfaction. Better yet, have a third party familiar with home repairs check the work before you pay.

The best way to protect yourself against home-repair fraud is by prevention. By exercising caution before you sign a contract, you can avoid a situation for which there often is no remedy because the perpetrators have escaped to another state or county to defraud other consumers.

If you believe you have been a victim of home-repair fraud, contact local law enforcement and COMBAT’s Maine Center for the Public Interest immediately. Only by early warning can we take action and catch these traveling home-repair crooks before their pickup truck arrives in the next driveway.

COMBAT is celebrating its 30th year of protecting Maine consumers and merchants from fraud and abuse, mediating disputes and promoting consumer education. During its birthday year, COMBAT is trying to raise $2.1 million to fund a powerful and effective Maine Center for the Public Interest. The MCPI is a coalition of households, business and professional people, agencies, associations, organizations and media partnering online to give “early warning” of fraud, encouraging consumers to “buy Maine” and working together to preserve our way of doing business “the Maine way”. This is an important step for Maine. For information or to make a tax-deductible contribution, write COMBAT, 109 State St., Bangor 04401.

Consumer Forum is a collaboration of the Bangor Daily News and Northeast COMBAT/The Maine Center for the Public Interest, Maine’s membership-funded nonprofit consumer organization. For help or to request individual or business membership information write: Consumer Forum, Bangor Daily News, PO Box 1329, Bangor 04402-1329.