The seniors are prime targets for scams. From ongoing credit charge offers, to bogus vacation offers, to too good to be real retirement property offers – odds are some senior has fallen for this. Actually, Senior Advocate estimates that 15 million seniors are scammed every year.
One trick they may not even suspect, however, is roofing scams. But police in Oceanside, California, lately reported that precisely that kind of trick was on offer a nearby rv park. “Bogus roofers are scamming seniors rv residents,” the government bodies reported towards the media.
The scam went something similar to this: Shady men would go to the seniors’ doorways and try to solicit roofing mending using their unsuspecting victims. Even though they’d take the time and really increase around the roofs, they’d spend only half an hour available online for then go back to the over 60’s homeowners having a bill for between $800 to $1,000.
The scam artists did not hold on there, though. Once the residents balked in the amount being billed, they’d drop the cost with a couple of $ 100, sufficient to obtain the seniors to accept pay. Then they’d leave hundreds of dollars more potent, getting performed nothing of actual roofing value.
As sad because this “preying around the innocent” scenario is, it is a perfect instance of among the roofer hiring rules: Always obtain a cost quote on the roofing repair or substitute on paper before saying yes to the work. A roofing contract protects both sides, so a trustworthy roofer could be more than amenable to signing one. It is the homeowner’s be certain that the roofer has been doing his homework, entered all his Ts, and will not financially sock it to her or him next fact. Simultaneously, it can serve as the roofing contractor’s legal option inside a court when the tables are switched and he’s stiffed with a customer.
Indeed, upfront cost quotes are this type of generally recognized roofing practice that many roofers will offer you homeowners one totally free. To be able to offer an accurate quote, the roofer, obviously, must completely inspect the house-especially the rooftop-prior to making any repairs, something the Oceanside roof scammers clearly did not do.
Another means by which these senior homeowners might have protected themselves was to inquire about certified credentials the moment the roofing posers knocked on their own door. Evidence of professionalism might have incorporated:
Certificates of insurance – Claiming to become self-insured doesn’t provide a roofer a pass. Coverage within the following ranges is suggested: general aggregate $3,000,000.00 or even more completed operations $1,000,000.00 automobile liability $500,000.00. Evidence of workers comp insurance coverage is also very important. And it is insufficient for that roofer to simply flash an insurance coverage card. It behooves the homeowner to scrutinize these kinds of credentials for validity.
Multiple payment and financing options – Roofers that demand cash or charge card payments are dead giveaways for roofing scam material.
A zero-defects quality assurance report – Any roofer who’s reluctant to face behind his end product doesn’t have incentive to carry out a top-quality job.
