Avoiding Contractor and Home Improvement Scams: How to Spot Fake Contractors, Avoid Costly Home Improvement Scams, and Protect Your Home and Money (Avoiding Scams Made Simple)

Your home is one of your biggest investments. Don't let the wrong contractor turn it into a financial nightmare.
Avoiding Contractor and Home Improvement Scams gives you the practical knowledge you need to recognize warning signs before you hand over your money or give someone control of your home.
Inside, you'll learn how to:

• Recognize common contractor and home improvement scams
• Verify contractors, licenses, businesses, and references
• Understand estimates, contracts, deposits, and change orders
• Spot suspiciously low bids and pressure tactics
• Protect yourself from storm and emergency repair scams
• Understand why permits and inspections matter
• Identify fake online contractor advertising and reviews
• Recognize problems involving subcontractors and unfinished work
• Know what to do when a contractor stops communicating
• Protect yourself when a contractor has already scammed you
• Avoid recovery scams that target previous victims
• Know when the safest decision is simply to walk away

Drawing on practical experience with the building, permitting, inspection, and enforcement side of the industry, this book looks at contractor scams from a perspective homeowners rarely get to see—the problems that surface after the contract is signed and the work goes wrong.
You don't need to become a contractor or building-code expert to protect yourself. You need to know what questions to ask, what information to verify, what warning signs to recognize, and when to slow down.
Before you hire someone to work on your home, learn how to protect your home, your money, and yourself.
Avoiding Scams Made Simple Series