Door-to-Door Flooring Improvement and Flooring Contractor Scams

Don't pay upfront money to a contractor. State law prohibits contractors from this kind of business transaction. A contractor must provide a service in order to receive consideration (payment). Coming to your home to give an estimate or even entering into a contract with a homeowner, is not providing a service. Once work has started and/or materials have been received, that is when a contractor has provided a service that constitutes a payment from the homeowner. And that payment should not exceed the percentage of the contract price that the work performed and/or materials received account for. A contractor should establish a schedule of values for every project that list the value of each activity of the project, and the homeowner's payment is made for the percent complete for each activity on a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly bases, depending of the particular project. If a contactor is asking for upfront money, this is an indication of:

* Inadequately trained management
* Bad company business ethics
* Lack of company working capital
* History of low quality workmanship that has resulted in homeowner non-payment
* A money scam that the homeowner will not be able to recover.

Resist being pressured into signing a contract with a contractor on their first visit. This is a tactic used by some contractors to keep homeowners from comparing them to another contractor and researching their history. A quality contractor will be willing to make as many visits as necessary to assist a homeowner in their decision. Your home is the single largest investment you will ever make and a quality contractor will want you to be satisfied with the improvements they will be performing.

These con artists frequently zero in on low income people and seniors. They think these people are especially susceptible to high pressure tactics. These con artists are persuasive about unneeded or overpriced home improvement scams. If a contract is signed, the homeowner may land in more trouble with a collaborating financial institution for refusing to pay for slipshod or unfinished work.

Law enforcement agencies and consumer groups are well aware of organized American Gypsies or Travelers. These are most likely the door-to-door salespeople for home repair scams that homeowners encounter. These Travelers are organized, have new trucks and equipment with in or out-of-state license plates, and, if asked, provide in or out-of-state phone numbers and addresses. Some of these groups have burglarized the homes of distracted owners, or have offered to drive an owner to the bank so the owner can remove money from an account.