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Scam Alert

Waverly Smith posted the message below to the Brentwood Forum on June 22, 2008. As Waverly explains, if you need a product or service for your home, you should always get recommendations from others. It's rarely a good idea to do business with anyone who happens to show up at your door or calls you by phone.

Hi Neighbors:

There is a Roofing / Maintenance man working our neighborhood. So far he has, according to reliable sources, scammed three neighbors regarding roof replacement.

In one case, he took off the old shingles and put down tar paper. He approached the owner of the house at that point saying he needed an advance in order to pay his men. The advance was given. On the next day he came back and needed an advance to buy the new shingles. After receiving this advance, he has not returned and no materials have been delivered to the house.

The roof with just tar paper on it leaked in a large number of places during our last rain. To complicate matters further, he is no longer answering his phone. All means to reach him have failed. The addresses he provided for his business do not appear to exist.

He did leave some tools which he has not come back for but did send someone that worked with him to try to get them back. This worker claimed the tools actually belonged to him. The tools were not returned, and it is hoped that this scam artist will eventually be caught.

The purpose of this email to the forum is to try and spare anyone else here in Brentwood the torment of losing a lot of money, having water damage due to leaks in the tar paper, and still having a roof job that has to be completed by someone else, all at additional expense.

Please be aware that there are people out there who will tell you anything to get some of your money. I fully expect that we will see even more of this now that everything has gotten so expensive due to the rising cost of gasoline and all other things necessary to sustain life as we know it.

In general, any unsolicited person approaching you inquiring about doing some work for you should be looked at with extreme caution or better still turned away.

If by chance you should enter an agreement with someone for work to be done, "NEVER NEVER" pay then in advance. Make sure any contract you agree to states that payment will not be made until job is completed satisfactorily.

There are signs that might alert you to avoid a roofing contractor you see working in the neighborhood. All the houses in Brentwood have approximately the same roof square footage and none of them should take longer than one day to replace the roof including tearing the old roof off. There are exceptions to the square footage where additions have been made to the original basic floor plan, but the one-day rule still applies.

If you happen to be riding by and see a roof being installed on a house, and the work goes on longer than a day, avoid that roofing contractor or individual. They either don't have the equipment to do the job or the experience.

When you need a new roof, check with your neighbors to see who did their roof and who they would recommend. I do not do business with anyone knocking on my door or stopping in front of the house soliciting business. My guiding rule, which has served me well so far is, "don't call me soliciting work;" I will call the person or firm of my choice when I need to.

Please be aware that we do have a scam artist working our neighborhood.


Waverly Smith

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