Outwitting Gypsy Home
Repair And
Home Improvement Hustlers

 By Brian H. Scott

*An Oregon widow loses $51,000 to a dishonest exterminating contractor, one of whose tricks is to unleash some termites secretly to prove that her house is so badly in need of an expensive "termite proofing job" that " it might fall to the ground any moment.

*In Indiana, one notorious con man sells a farmer a "radioactive magnetic lightning rod ****ed on a spacecraft" for $100. Later, when lightning destroys it, the farmer finds that it was made from wood and hemp painted to look like metal.

*In an affluent Boston suburb, a repairman climbs up a ladder with the homeowner behind him and deftly pulls from the chimney a dead mouse he had secreted in his hand. "Just what I thought, a mortar mouse native to Japanl" he says. "We've had reports of them in this area and it looks like you're really infested, mister! They eat brick mortar and if you don't 'mortar mouse proof' this chimney soon, the whole damn thing's going to fall down!"

They're back again, the gypsy home repair and improvement hustlers. They mass for attack even before the shadblow blooms, emerging like insects in warm weather when the homeowner's fancy turns to thoughts of sprucing up. Of course they've been hard at work all winter, but these months are their busiest; they swarm into suburbia devouring all the dollars in sight as rapaciously as a plague of locusts. Their specialties include repairing chimneys eaten by "Japanese mortar mice," "waterproofing" roofs with highly inflammable gasoline mixtures, and "blacktopping" driveways with substances that wash away in the first drizzle. Through such incredible schemes, according to one state official, con men bilk the American homeowner of an incredible $2 billion every year. This is a conservative estimate; others go twice as high and include many of the scams included here:

Exterminating Contractors

Dishonest exterminating firms often call themselves city "termite inspectors," flashing phony credentials, advising you that you're endangering yourself and the. neighborhood because your house is infested and recommending a firm (their own) to do the required work. Others, as in the case of our Oregon widow, will convince you that your house is in imminent danger of crashing to the ground, even to the point of infesting you with termites when you're not looking to prove that your house needs an expensive "termite proofing" job right then and there. "When I was working the termite racket," says one home repair con man, "I'd scare the suckers half to death. By the time I got through they were fearful that their home would be eaten up before we finished talking." Any exterminator who trades on fear or shame in this way should be avoided like a cockroach. Remember that pests aren't necessarily caused by uncleanliness and that termites won't cause a home to collapse overnight. In the words of an official of the Chicago Better Business Bureau: "For every person who may have suffered a loss by waiting a few days to sign a contract for home repairs, probably a thousand have lost money by acting too quickly on impulse." Above all, don't take a high pressure exterminator's word on the basis of a few dead bugs he may have planted.

Chimney Repairs

Another "act now or else" approach is frequently used by "heating engineers" or the like who specialize in chimney repairs. In a typical case, one smooth talking gypster in Columbus, Ohio, noticed children playing outside a house in a prosperous section of the city. Ringing the bell, he introduced himself as a "civic minded citizen" who happened to be in the contracting business. He'd noticed that the chimney was badly in need of repair, he told the lady of the house, and this constituted a grave danger to the children playing in the yard. The chimney could collapse at any moment and kill them! The woman hesitated for an instant until he said, feigning disbelief, "Madam, would you endanger your children's lives for a lousy two hundred dollars"" He got the job, took a ladder from his truck, and mixed up a batch of mortar which he applied to the slight cracks in the chimney in about 45 minutes. After collecting his. $200 an hour, this "civic minded citizen" proceeded to another neighborhood. Ingenious con games in this category include repairmen who loosen bricks in the chimney to "prove it needs work" and secretly pour lighter fluid in the chimney to warn of a "dangerous gas leak."

Fire Alarm Systems

Before the fire alarm system flimflam man rings the doorbell, he'll usually telephone his victim - most often the woman of the house. He'll explain that he works for a large insurance company and that they've launched a national safety campaign; as a public service, he will call on you and check your house "at absolutely no charge for the service." Sometimes the con artist even arrives wearing a fire officer's uniform, but he"ll always tap on the walls pointing out obvious fire violations (especially in the children's rooms) and make a thorough inspection while citing the number of people who die in fires every year. He might even tear a tiny thread of curtain and put a match to it, clucking his tongue over how quickly it burns. Then he'll "lay it on the line" and tell you that you're "living in a tinderbox." "In fact, lady, I may even have to recommend the cancellation of your fire insurance." All of this leads up to his pitch for an "early warning alarm system." One sharpster tells how he would explain the system to his victim. "Well, without heat there can't be fire," he'd tell the homeowner, who was already preparing to evacuate the premises. "In an early warning alarm system each room is wired so that if the heat in any part of your home goes higher than one hundred and ten degrees, an alarm goes off. This not only alerts you to the danger in time but makes it possible for you to eradicate potential hot spots, areas where fires are likely to start." The rest of the "scam," he goes on to say, was predictable enough: "I'd be asked where the alarm system could be purchased, and after much pleading I'd relent and recommend a firm. The firm, of course, consisted of my partner. He would rush over, string a few wires, a battery operated bell, and charge whatever the traffic would bear. As often as not we'd get over a thousand dollars for a totally useless system worth less than ten bucks!"

Some fire alarm system operators even show shocking films or photographs of fire damage to scare their victims into buying. Most of their systems aren't Underwriter Laboratory (UL) safety approved, and they nurture a false sense of security that is more dangerous than having no protection at all. One high pressure group around Yakima, Washington, sold 137 systems for $1187 each, where the systems cost the outfit about $225apiece and were almost worthless.


Miracle Paints

Wandering gypsies and other itinerant workmen have spray painted houses with "miracle mixtures" that turn out to be old crankcase oil. More often the mixture is thinned out ordinary paint. The point is, there are no "miracle paints" with "special ingredients" that last longer than ordinary paints. If there were, paint and hardware stores would obviously stock them. Some paints are better than others, but once the "miracle" tag is applied to any brand, you can be sure a fast buck artist is lurking somewhere in the background. Any manufacturer of a miracle paint would naturally try to sell it through retail outlets, which reach a much broader market. Yet every year thousands of people buy "miracle paints" at double or triple the price they'd pay for a reliable brand. "I've made a lot of money on outside paint jobs by swearing I had a new product, a 'miracle paint' that was guaranteed not to chip, crack or peel for twenty years," says a bunco operating this racket. "Then I would claim the paint job would serve as a model for the neighborhood. And for every customer referred to us as a result of doing the job, there would be a fifty dollar bonus forthcoming." By the time the paint peeled or cracked, he was nowhere to be found, and he never remembers giving anyone a bonus.


Sewers and Septic Tanks

An elderly Midwesterner recently paid $8000 to con men posing as sewer inspectors who convinced him that he was responsible for the main line in the street outside his house. Here the swindle might have been avoided by a simple check of credentials, but operators in this field are generally more subtle. In regard to septic tanks, for example, the charge for cleaning is usually based on the weigh of wastes removed, and shady dealers often misrepresent these weights; there are many cases on record of homeowners paying $500 for a job that required only a few hours work. Say the experts:

• Use only trusted local dealers for septpic-tank repairs or installation.

• The trouble with a septic tank may not be in the tank itself but in bad connections or the like.

• Ordinarily a septic tank needs cleaning only every 5 years or so.

• Special bacteria products to break down wastes in septic tanks are usually worthless.

• Report possible weight and measure frauds immediately to the state health department and to your local Better Business Bureau.

Furnace Repair Rackets

Furnace repair rackets are becoming more common with the fuel shortage, but they constitute one of the oldest home repair rackets of. all and best illustrate the scare technique used by con artists. A classic case involved the salesmen of the Holland Repair Company, who posed as local fire inspectors to gain access to homeowners basernents. After tearing the furnace apart, they would claim it was dangerous and could asphyxiate the family. They would then suggest the installation of a new furnace for about $2600. 1f the homeowner balked at the cost, they would simply refuse to put the old furnace back together. "Because our existing laws work so slowly," one writer notes, "it was twenty nine years between the time the Federal Trade Commission first became aware of the practice and the time they finally put a stop to it, causing some of the furnace company's more ingenious officials to land in jail."

One case on file with the national Better Business Bureau describes a furnace repair gyp as reported by an elderly victim: "Two men came to our house asking if we wanted the furnace cleaned for twenty five dollars. . . . They ripped off the sides of our furnace. Later a man examined the furnace and showed us rust spots on the outside of the furnace jacket. He said the rust spots contained tiny pinholes and then when the pinholes would get bigger, gas would spread throughout the house. He said, 'If I was living here, I would be scared to death. I wouldn't spend another night here.' He also told of two families who had been gassed by fumes from a furnace. He said we had a furnace like that one. We were frightened and signed a contract to buy a new furnace for two thousand dollars . . . . Later we became suspicious and called three local furnace companies . . . . They all told us there was no danger of gas leakage. They could see nothing else wrong."

Still another underground ruse played by furnace repair frauds is the boiler ploy. Here an "inspector" goes to the basement to examine the boiler. After a few minutes, he calls up excitedly and asks that the homeowner come downstairs quickly because the boiler is "about to go." The con man then. lights a match and passes it over one of the boiler's pipe joints, which bursts into flames that the inspector frantically beats out. What the homeowner doesn't know is that the pipe had previously been saturated with lighter fluid. Repairs, naturally, are made on the spot.

When con men pretend to be "city safety inspectors" they'll often practically force their way inside your home, claiming that several furnaces have exploded in the neighborhood and they've "got word from City Hall to clean out all defective ones." Yours, naturally, turns out to be defective and you're subject to a fine of several hundred dollarrs. However, "since you appear to be a decent person," the con artist just happens to have a friend in the business who can fix the violation. If you have the furnace replaced, he'll let you off the hook this time. So persuasive is this scare technique that people have even signed papers putting second mortgages on their homes in order to pay for new furnaces they don't need.

Whether furnace gypsters scare you with threats of large fines, dangers to your family and neighbors, or loss of heat in the dead of winter, they're 200 miles away when the new furnace they have installed breaks down. It is easy to avoid being taken by them, however. Just have all servicing done by a reputable local firm, ask for the credentials of any so called inspector who calls, and agree to no replacements until you have unqualified outside assurance that a furnace is beyond repair especially if you call a firm for a routine cleaning, and the workmen suddenly find something drastically wrong with your unit. Other than that, make sure you have all guarantees in writing and that you thoroughly understand anything you sign.


Roofing Ripoffs

Gypsy roofers always work in dry weather, escaping from an area when the rain comes and your roof begins to leak like a sieve. Though one prominent midwestern roofing concern, among others, boasts thousands of satisfied customers contracted for by door to door salesmen, the roofing racket is a favorite with traveling hustlers. Some nomad roofers are not above stealing copper gutters while doing their dirty work, replacing the copper with cheap aluminum gutters. It is better not to take chances with any transient roofers, but if you do, check their references thoroughly before letting them begin any work. Call the Better Business Bureau to check on possible complaints against transients and ask the roofers for a list of satisfied customers you can call. Be especially wary of those who claim that they will apply a "miracle roof coating," one coat of which will seal up old shingles as good as new. No such coating exists. Also beware of roofing cheats who ask you to sign a paper giving them permission to show their work to other prospective customers upon completion; read the paper carefully, for it may be a contract that binds you to a high price job despite the roofer's promises. Nomad roofers have been known to spray roofs with "special waterproofing solution" that turned out to be $10 worth of aluminum paint. Before choosing a roofer, get written detailed bids and samples from at least three outfits; and before the roofing is installed, check the sample roofing you have been given against the material that is delivered to your home.


Driveway Blacktopping

Swindlers working the driveway racket generally use one of two deceits to gain your confidence. They will either tell you that they just finished a job and have just enough "sealant" or asphalt left to blacktop your driveway (which is badly in need of repair), or imply that the load in their unmarked truck is stolen, speaking in a low voice and acting as if they were just one step ahead of Batman and Robin. As a clincher they will say that they can do the job at half the price of any other firm in town, inviting you to pick up the phone and call whomever you please. Furthermore, they will guarantee their work for five years. They then proceed to lay the cheapest possible junk (even crankcase oil) in about an hour and collect their money. Because their price is one half that of reputable contractors, they'll often get referrals and wind up doing jobs for an entire neighborhood, for as long as the dry weather lasts. With the first rainstorm, however, the driveway surfaces invariably wash into the street. At least several/. inches of quality blacktop needs to be applied over an old driveway surface and its application takes at least a full day; a good contractor will vacuum the old surface first to remove loose stones, dirt, and debris before applying new blacktop.


Water Conditioning

Devious salesmen for apparatus designed to soften hard water have been known to make claims that their product can cure arthritis, kidney trouble, and even acne, all such claims, of course, being sheer nonsense. Others, including one group in Kansas City, have adopted scare techniques, playing on homeowners' fears of ever increasing water pollution and claiming that their equipment "purifies" water. Still others sell useless water softening equipment and then go out of business before it has a chance to break down. Better Business Bureau officials warn that "most complaints involve failure of the unit to deliver service which comes up to the salesman's claims." They add that a water softener can be of great value to homeowners with hard water problems, but that firms selling them should be thoroughly investigated before installation begins.


Other Home Improvement Gyps

Complaints about home improvement contractors received by the Better Business Bureau in many sections of the country represent as much as 10 percent of all complaints.

Gypsters may tell you that you and your brood have been "computer selected as the all American family" needed as a showplace for their work. At other times they have used the insignia of some of the nation's top siding corporations without permission, of course. Or they may respond to your ad offering your house for sale and agree to rent it, cash in advance, and to side it for nothing. Among the many papers you sign, however, is a large sales contract for the siding which has been concealed in an authorization for the siding to be applied.

Such ploys are commonplace in the siding racket, as they are in all home improvement frauds. Home improvement racketeers are finding good pickings today in the construction of additional rooms, remodeling of kitchens, bathrooms, and basements; the construction of outbuildings; the installation of pools; and many other areas. Pool gyps Are among the most prevalent, since swimming pools have become the new middle class status symbol. There are numerous cases on record of homeowners paying thousands of dollars for pools worth no more than a few hundred dollars, with home pool advertising and high pressure salesmanship ranking near the top of the home improvement gyps. "Thousands of families are being baited each year by eye catching ads promising pools for next to nothing and delivery the next day," one executive has said. "Once they take the bait, they are in the hands of professional confidence men who artfully switch them to higher priced pools, which may cost as much as seven thousand dollars with finance charges, but which in most cases are not much better than the junk merchandise offered in the ads for "under six hundred." Numerous consumers at the hearings related horror stories about pools bursting a few days after being installed and the refusal of manufacturers to honor warranties supposedly in force for ten years. One angry young man in fact, said that he quit his job rather than have his salary garnished for a $5000 pool that bulged as soon as he filled it with water.

The FTC says that it receives some 2000 complaints a year about swimming pools in the New York metropolitan area alone. Most of them involve advertising of false "special" pre season prices; undisclosed conditions and limitations of guarantees that are not made known to the consumer in advance of the sale; and guarantees that frequently do not extend to repair work needed because of shoddy or improper installation. Anyone who is considering the purchase of a pool, authorities say, should do some thorough comparison shopping, and check out his dealer with the local Better Business Bureau. Experts advise that every purchaser obtain a full contract clearly detailing financial arrangements; itemizing all expenses for labor and materials; specifying grade, color, and size where appropriate; indicating who will bear the cost of such extra items as electrical, water, and gas lines; and stipulating when the work is to begin and be finished. They also feel that local laws licensing pool installers should be introduced.

A con man contractor in New York was caught only after he fleeced 15 homeowners of about $50,000 in deposits on extensive remodeling projects. He wouldn't accept any money down at first, not until he ripped the places apart, shrewdly taking out the toilets in each. Then he'd ask for his advance and get it; the homeowners never saw him, their money, or their toilets again. The ploys such gypsters play would fill the Encyclopedia Americana, but there are some general rules you can follow to help avoid being taken. They apply to all home repair work as well:

Though selling door to door is a time honored American tradition, one expert's investigations convinced him that "fully 75 percent of home improvement gyps are started with a ringing phone or doorbell." Never do business with a contractor who phones you or rings your doorbell and introduces himself in that way. A con artist recounting his own lurid career agrees. "Never buy anything worth more than a dollar from a door to door salesman," he says. "I know of no respectable firm in the home improvement field that uses canvassers to drum up business." In any event, every homeowner should be particularly on guard when dealing with unknown contractors. Follow these general rules:

• Never buy anything on impulse. Impulse buyers are the wandering gypster's best pigeons.

• When a door to door contractor's car or truck bears out of state plates, be especially careful.

• Steer clear of miracle ingredients or techniques offered by any contractor.

• If anyone represents himself as an inspector, check him out with the police. If he's a phony, he'll vanish as soon as you reach for the phone. "Remember," says the Better Business Bureau, "that inspectors or other employees of governmental agencies must display credentials on request, will not try to sell you anything, and cannot recommend any particular company or product."

• Take plenty of time to investigate a contractor before agreeing to anything. Don't be stampeded, And don't be persuaded by any excuses about lack of credentials of any kind.

• Check out whether the contractor has an established place of business and how long he's been there, the longer the better. Don't accept such pleas as, "I'm doing this on my own, I'd get in trouble if the b6ss found out."

• Even if you call the contractor's company (to be sure there is one), double check with your local Better Business Bureau, who will be able to tell you if the contractor is a member of their bureau (a good recommendation), or if they have a file on him.

• Deal with a licensed contractor whenever possible; unfortunately, contractors aren't required to be licensed in many areas.

• Be encouraged (but not complacent) if a contractor has affiliations with the local chamber of commerce, or professional trade associations.

• Make sure that the contractor has bank references, and ask him for the names of at least three satisfied customers. Follow up on his completed jobs; if his previous customers aren't satisfied, it's not likely that you will be, either.

• Don't be rushed. Ge*****imates from three or four contractors on any major job. Observe how each one sizes up the project and note his suggestions.

• Obtain written agreements for plans and specifications; specify all materials by brand name and quality; and insist that you approve all plans before work begins.

• Be sure that the contractor has a certification of insurance covering property damage, liability, and workmen's compensation.

• As to written contracts (and there should always be one), it's best for a layman not to sign anything involving a major job until his lawyer sees it. In any event, don't sign the contract the day you receive it a good offer will keep. Read every word of every page and be sure you understand it.

• Make certain you receive the same materials contracted for before any job begins, checking it against the samples you were provided with.

• Never sign any statement saying that the work is completed until you are fully satisfied.

• If you can afford it, avoid the trouble of the above precautions by hiring an architect to design your project. If you are taken for a ride, despite all your precautions, hire a lawyer as soon as possible.

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