Please help - old person taken by contractor - Posted by Scott

import · December 11, 1998, 8:55am

Posted by DJ on December 12, 1998 at 14:36:36:

Scott,
Unfortunately, it sounds like your old person has been taken by one of the oldest scams in the book! There are
alot of Crooked contractors who move into an area, and target elderly people only! They will tap out as many
victims as possible, and then move on! Chances are, you will probably never get the money back! The best thing you can hope for is to atleast get the work done,
if he hasn’t skipped town! If he is a local resident,
you should be able to track him down. Did the lady get a written contract? I hope so! Did she get references?
If so, call some of them and tell them what has happened! This will not only ruin his reputation, and knock him out of any further business with them, but they might know where to find him, (if you can’t find him that is). You can also go to your local courthouse
and file a judgement against him, which will hurt his credit. If you get a judgement, you can also put a lein on his property, (i.e.,home, equipment, vehicles,
etc.,). As I said, you may never get the money back, but you can put a little pressure on him. Are there
any local news channels in your area who have an investigative team who looks into scams and such?
We have one here, and they eat this kind of stuff up!
Believe me, the last thing he wants is to have his name
and his company exposed for scam on public T.V.!
I wish you luck in your pursuit against this guy! I happen to be a contractor myself, and it’s people like him that make us honest guys look bad!
Happy Holidays,
DJ

import · December 11, 1998, 8:55am

Posted by Scott on December 11, 1998 at 09:55:07:

Hi,

My wife is a social worker, and has an older, mentally ill client living in the Cleveland area. The lady, who is living at the poverty level on fixed income, lives alone and her front porch needed to be torn down and replaced. She got a loan for $3,000 and paid the man in July - the work has yet to be done. My wife, who just learned about this, has written a letter to him and will attempt to help the woman take legal action if necessary. However, I have been reading and learning about similar issues from this site for several months, and was hoping that someone may be able to provide some avenues that could be taken to get this individual her money back. Thanks for you help.

Happy Holidays,

Scott

import · December 11, 1998, 5:18pm

Re: Please help - old person taken by contractor - Posted by Randy -IL-

Posted by Randy -IL- on December 11, 1998 at 18:18:38:

I would:

Call the contractor to express my concern
Write a letter to him about my concern
Talk to your States Attorney. A letter from them should help.
If all else fails, Sue him until his wallet hurts and falls into my hands
Write to the better business bureau, chamber of commerce, and all kinds of contractor trade organizations. Be sure you only write about facts to avoid slander.

Of course these are simplified steps with much more detail involved, but you should get the idea.