Springtime Scams Include

Driveway Sealing, Chimney Sweeping

HARTFORD — The Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection is reminding state residents that with the start of the spring season, scammers and unscrupulous home solicitors will be visiting neighborhoods in hope of tricking consumers out of their hard-earned cash.

“It’s no joke — fly-by-night operations prey on hardworking citizens every day, but the spring and summer months are the busiest,” Consumer Protection Commissioner Jerry Farrell, Jr, said. “From chimney repair to driveway pavers, magazine sales to meter readers, there are lots of schemers hitting the streets this time of year, so we want consumers to be on guard.”

Nearly every year, traveling pavers dot the Connecticut landscape, hawking underpriced, inferior driveway paving and sealing services and leaving customers flat.

“Unsuspecting consumers get taken for several hundred dollars or more,” Mr Farrell said. “Even worse, some unfortunate homeowners not only lose their money, but also get left with rubble where their driveways used to be. These scammers are notorious for striking quickly and then disappearing, only to surface days later somewhere else.”

Vehicles used by traveling pavers are often unmarked utility trucks and vans; salespersons provide brochures door-to-door, and their sales pitch usually indicates that asphalt they have left over from a nearby job is available to you immediately, at a bargain price. High pressure sales tactics, haphazard contracts, and a request for payment in cash or personal check made out to cash are all red flags and should be avoided.

While the hit-and-run pattern makes these scammers difficult to catch, the department and local police are always on guard and are making inroads. Last year, working on tips from law enforcement and area residents, the department caught up with Gerard and John M. O’Connor, residents of Piscataway, N.J., doing business in the state as Advance Construction.

The two men and their team of traveling pavers were caught scamming a Unionville resident. The O’Connors were each charged and convicted of representing themselves falsely as registered home improvement contractors, using expired registration certificates, and offering home improvement work without being appropriately registered. They were each subsequently sentenced to two years probation and $500 fines on all counts. Both were banned from ever soliciting or performing any home improvement work in Connecticut.

As fireplaces and furnaces are retired for the season, chimney sweeping and repair scams will also become more prevalent, according to the consumer protection commissioner.

“Never hire a chimney sweep who shows up at your door uninvited,” Mr Farrell said. “Talk to friends and relatives or search the business pages to find someone who has established roots in the community. You want a chimney sweep whose word you can trust.”

While chimney sweeping is not considered home improvement, sometimes the chimney sweep will identify repairs that need to be made. Anyone who offers to perform chimney repair or replacement work must have a home improvement registration.

“Don’t hire your chimney sweep to do your repairs on the spot,” Mr Farrell said. “That’s a separate job and you want time to find a skilled and reputable contractor. If the chimney sweep is qualified and appropriately registered, he or she may provide you with a bid like any other contractor you consult.”

In 2007, customers of Steel River Home Maintenance, a Long Island company, contacted the department with concerns about sales tactics used by some Steel River employees, and unfinished or unsatisfactory work done on their chimneys. A multiagency task force involving the Department of Consumer Protection and various local police departments led to the June 2007 arrest of four Steel River employees after they offered undercover agents illegal home improvement contracts.

“The contract is very important, as it protects the consumer from potential damages or misunderstandings,” Mr Farrell said. “A reputable contractor will want to have all the required terms printed in his contract, but consumers need to check, and if necessary, insist that everything required in the contract be written in.”

Home improvement contracts must be signed and dated, and include a start date and end date for the job. They must include the price, and you can request that labor and materials be broken out separately. The contractor’s Connecticut home improvement contractor number (HIC number) must be included on the contract, and you are encouraged to verify with the Department of Consumer Protection that the contractor is registered in good standing, and does not have a large number of consumer complaints on his or her record.

Finally, the contract must include a three-day Notice of Cancellation that allows the consumer 72 hours to change his or her mind. It must also include clear instructions on how a consumer is to cancel that contract — the correct phone number, fax number, and/or mailing address must be provided.

“The three-day requirement eliminates the possibility of a contractor legally beginning work at your home on the day you sign the contract,” the commissioner said. “Anyone pressuring you because they are ‘ready to get started right now,’ is probably only ready to take your money and run.”

Be cautious when approached by persons selling products door-to-door like furniture, magazine subscriptions, cleaning aids, and similar items. Consumers should check with local police to be sure they know that home solicitation is taking place in town.

If you decide to buy from a door-to-door solicitor, use a check for the purchase, and make it out to the company, not to the salesperson or to cash. Consumers who buy from a door-to-door salesperson are provided with a three-day right to cancel, under the Connecticut Home Sales Solicitation Act, so be sure to get a contract with the contact information in case you change your mind.

Anyone with questions or concerns should call the Department of Consumer Protection at 860-713-6110, toll-free at 800-842-2649, or visit the agency website at www.ct.gov/dcp.