Project Cool-Aid Results

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Jan. --, 2007

Contacts: Brian Livingston, Arizona Registrar of Contractors: (602) 542-1525 X7130
Tracy Scott: (602) 677-3232

ROC consumer alert: Beware of scams against seniors

[PHOENIX] – The Arizona Registrar of Contractors (ROC) has received reports of unlicensed companies running scams in Arizona neighborhoods. These so-called contractors often go door to door offering unnecessary reports to unsuspecting homeowners specifically targeted vulnerable seniors.

“These door-to-door solicitors are usually very friendly, work to gain trust easily, and claim they are in the neighborhood working on other home repair jobs,” says ROC Acting Director Fidelis V. Garcia. “When they enter the home for repair work, the real damage takes place.”

Particularly common during the temperate winter months, scams by unscrupulous people traveling to Arizona are reported by victims each year. Many of these disreputable individuals systematically go through neighborhoods and offer various reduced-cost home repairs. Unsuspecting homeowners often pay in full for poor quality work, or no work at all, while the scam artist is no where to be found.

Senior citizens are more likely to be targeted in these types of scams and should be very careful when approached over the telephone or door to door for this or any other home improvement services. Residents are urged not to hire anyone soliciting home repair services until checking with the ROC to ensure that the individual is an Arizona-licensed contractor.

Anyone who performs residential or commercial construction, remodeling or repair work, must have a contractors license if the job costs more than $1000 in materials and labor, or if a building permit is required. Consumers always should check with the ROC to make sure the person they hire is properly licensed.

The ROC offers the following advice to ensure homeowners do not fall victim to a construction or home-repair scam:

Hire only licensed contractors. Check a license with the ROC before hiring a contractor for a project or home repair by calling 602-542-1525 or statewide outside Maricopa County at
1-888-271-9286, or visit www..azroc.gov and click on Check a Licensed Contractor.
Get a written contract, and do not sign it until you completely understand the terms.
Do not pay cash.
Do not pay more than 10 percent or $1,000, whichever is less, as a down payment.

Remember that most legitimate contractors do not:

Go door to door soliciting new business.
Require the customer to pay cash.
Require that the customers accept left-over material from another job.
Tell customers that they have to pay in full or pay up front.

To report possible fraudulent home improvement activities or if you have been approached at your home by a contractor soliciting business, contact the ROC at 602-542-1525, statewide outside Maricopa County at 1-888-271-9286, or visit www.azroc.gov. Check the company’s license status and report the company to the ROC if you suspect a scam.

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The ROC regulates construction contractors in the state by providing a licensing and regulatory system for residential and commercial contractors designed to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public. Additionally, the ROC offers financial protection to residential consumers who use licensed contractors through its Residential Contractors’ Recovery Fund. Established in 1931, the ROC operates 11 offices statewide. For more information about the agency, call 602-542-1525 or toll-free outside Maricopa County at 888-271-9286 or visit www.azroc.gov.