luvmy3jewels
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2006
- Messages
- 987
The previous posting of a diser who was scammed through a Craigslist car deal made me think to post this. It seems like in today's economy we are hearing more and more stories of people who are being cheated out of money. I decided to post this as a warning to any disers who may be considering building a new house or renovating an existing home.
In our very small town, I know of at least two families who have recently lost a large amount of money to construction related firms who suddenly declared bankruptcy. A local Dr. lost $20,000 after paying a cabinet building business upfront to build custom cabinets for his house (the business closed immediately afterward he placed his order). Then just over the last couple of weeks a local attorney allowed his building contractor to make a large draw ($50,000) to pay a lumber company for the wood that was used in his new house. The contractor made the draw, pocketed the money and filed for bankruptcy. (And the home isn't finished - they are having problems now because parts of the house were built that don't meet building code). This contractor had a fairly good reputation in our community and had even built a house for the "Extreme Home Makeover" show within the last year.
There are a lot of construction related businesses in this area that are having financial problems due to the economy, which is why this sort of thing is happening more frequently. I just wanted to post this to make people aware these sorts of things can happen. Unfortunately, I don't have any advice as to how to avoid this situation (other than not paying up front for anything and doing a lot of research on who you hire).
In our very small town, I know of at least two families who have recently lost a large amount of money to construction related firms who suddenly declared bankruptcy. A local Dr. lost $20,000 after paying a cabinet building business upfront to build custom cabinets for his house (the business closed immediately afterward he placed his order). Then just over the last couple of weeks a local attorney allowed his building contractor to make a large draw ($50,000) to pay a lumber company for the wood that was used in his new house. The contractor made the draw, pocketed the money and filed for bankruptcy. (And the home isn't finished - they are having problems now because parts of the house were built that don't meet building code). This contractor had a fairly good reputation in our community and had even built a house for the "Extreme Home Makeover" show within the last year.
There are a lot of construction related businesses in this area that are having financial problems due to the economy, which is why this sort of thing is happening more frequently. I just wanted to post this to make people aware these sorts of things can happen. Unfortunately, I don't have any advice as to how to avoid this situation (other than not paying up front for anything and doing a lot of research on who you hire).
