Roswell Police, NCPHIF Team Up to Educate Area Homeowners on Contractor Scams

After getting scores of calls from Roswell area residents who have been victimized by shady contractors, The National Center for the Prevention of Home Improvement Fraud (NCPHIF), a local nonprofit, is partnering with the to educate homeowners on how to protect themselves from contractor scams. 

NCPHIF is holding a free workshop - “Protecting Yourself from Home Repair Contractor Fraud and Scams” - June 4. The free workshop will educate homeowners on how to avoid being scammed, regardless of where they are in the rebuild/repair/improvement process.

“The best way to control your project is to learn how to control the money” says Phae Howard, Executive Director of NCPHIF. “It’s so frustrating to get calls from area homeowners who have already been scammed. It breaks my heart because by then, often it’s too late. What we talk about in our workshops would have helped every single one of them.”

Howard quickly points out that anyone can be a victim of contractor fraud. 

“We get lots of calls from people who thought they were smarter than the contractor. They call us after they have been scammed and want to know when we’re having our next workshop. If you own a home or are planning to, at some point, you are going to have to hire a contractor. We all need this information.”

NCPHIF has held workshops all over the country including Joplin, Missouri and Birmingham, Alabama where major tornadoes ripped houses apart.

“From a law enforcement point of view, these crimes are incredibly difficult to stop because we generally don't receive a call about suspicious behavior until a crime has already been committed,” says Officer Zachary Frommer, who has been with the Roswell Police Department for nine years. “Homeowners recount ‘red flags’ at the time of the report, but rather than listening to their instincts at the time of the incident, they tend to discount them until it is too late and they have already been made a victim. We will provide helpful tips in an effort to prevent fraud and theft rather than simply assisting victims to file reports after the fact.”

Georgia attorney Kevin Veler, a construction trades attorney, who regularly represents both homeowners and contractors, also points out that there is a lot of confusing information online and all around about dealing with residential contractors. 

“Georgia state contractor licensing laws went into effect in 2008, yet most consumers don’t realize the law greatly resembles Swiss cheese with many contractors exempt from state licensing. It’s important to know the questions to ask as part of your due diligence before selecting a contractor," says Veler. "Additionally, if a contractor without a state license contracts with a homeowner for construction services that require a state residential or general contractor, the contractor cannot enforce that contract and cannot pull required building permits. Put simply, you don’t have to pay the unlicensed contractor performing work for which a state license is required.”

“Come learn how to deal with contractors and recognize typical scams; learn what to do before, during and after a project as well as how to find contractors, how to check out contractors, what should be in your contract, insurance issues you didn’t know about, managing the building permit process, conflict resolution, how to pay a contractor, change orders, lien waivers and a whole lot more”, says Howard.  

For more information and to register for the workshop, go online or call 404-902-8999.

“We also furnish you with information on other valuables that you may not think about. This information is not only critical, it is urgent,” says Howard.  “Proactive prevention is the best fraud protection.”

The workshop, which is free and open to the public, takes place Monday, June 4, at the , 115 Norcross Street, Roswell from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.