Our home is our most valuable asset so we must protect and maintain it whenever necessary. However, when hiring someone for service, you shouldn’t just hire anyone who comes knocking on the door. An article from the Central Ohio news website reported an incident where a homebuyer was scammed due to extremely attractive offers:
Kelley saw an ad on Craigslist for affordable rent-to-own homes from a company called First House Financial. After checking out their website, he gave them a call.
“They told me I could own the house. I had the choice to either rent or own, so I’m thinking I could own a house and make payments on it,” recalls Kelley.
He paid $99 for a list of what was supposed to be foreclosed homes. Then, he visited some of the addresses and realized it seemed too good to be true.
And he knew it for sure after watching 10TV’s story about First House Financial on Monday night.
Consumer 10’s investigation revealed that First House Financial lures people with fake photos on Craigslist.
Aside from incidents like these, property-related scams are experienced by a lot of homeowners as well in the form of roof repairs and window replacements that are offered with too-good-to-be-true offers. So how do we make sure that we’re hiring a legitimate company? According to the National Roofing Contractors Association, homeowners should be able to check that a contractor of any kind has:
- A permanent office location. A reliable contractor should have a permanent address with appropriate signage as well as working phone number, license, and tax identification number.
- Broad knowledge in the industry. A company that provides Akron roofing, for example, must always be able to explain their procedures, quality specifics, and various kinds of products that would help their customer achieve what they need.
- Recognition. Organizations as well as manufacturers have relationships with companies that have the skills and experience to provide the services they advertise. A homeowner should therefore check whether a contractor is a member of an established and renowned association such as the Better Business Bureau.
All these and more provided on the NRCA website are essential for homeowners to consider and follow to avoid scams. One of the roofers in Akron that meet all these criteria is D&M Roofing. The company has been in the industry for many years, and is recognized by various roofing manufacturers such as the GAF Corporation. Don’t fall for cheap sales talk; go for the trusted names in the industry and you can’t go wrong.
(Article Excerpt From Consumer 10: Rent-To-Own Craigslist Scam Continues To Dupe Homebuyersdays, 10tv.com, May 8, 2014)
