Randolph County News

Randolph County Sheriff's Office issued the following announcement on Oct. 28.

Warning Signs to avoid home improvement scams.

Do’s

• Do insist on seeing references and ask if you can visit a job currently in progress.

• Do require a bid in writing and compare bids from multiple contractors before agreeing to any work.

• Do check the Better Business Bureau (BBB) website to see contractors’ ratings and whether any complaints have been filed against them.

• Do a written *contract before you pay any money and before the work starts.

*detailed description of work, material costs, start date, completion date, warranty information

• Do verify before making the final payment that the work has been done to your satisfaction, the subcontractors or suppliers have been paid, and the job site cleaned up.

Don’ts

• Don’t pay cash.  Use a check or credit card or arrange financing.

• Don’t automatically take the lowest bid.  Some contractors cut corners to come in lower than the competitors.  If significantly less, ask why.

• Don’t put down a big deposit.  The initial payment should be no more than a third of the total estimate, payable on the day the materials arrive.

• Don’t let the contractor arrange financing for you.

• Don’t agree to get any required building permits yourself.  That should be the contractor’s responsibility.

Original source can be found here.