1. Be suspicious of a contractor who drives a truck with no company name and/or has out of state plates. And ALWAYS take a minute and write down the license plate number and there is nothing wrong with you taking a picture of his vehicle.
2. When you meet with the contractor to get an estimate, pay attention to your gut instinct, inner voice, or radar and how you feel about him/her as a person.  Are there any red flags about his personality?  Is he anxious?  Pushy?  Frustrated with your questions?  Understand that bad contractors don’t often reveal their true nature at the beginning of a job. In general, bad contractors appear likeable and promise to do good things at very reasonable prices. Unfortunately, once they have the contract they don’t do the work as promised and sometimes aren’t even around by the end of the job.
3. Don’t confuse an address listed online as foolproof evidence that a contractor isn’t a “traveler.” Some online referral websites, that lack the infrastructure to check information for accuracy, may publish an address from anybody who can type.
4. If a contractor tells you he has brought materials from another job, he is cheating his previous customer out of their purchase.
5. The typical scammer will “assess” problems at your home, and offer a verbal “quote” on how much these problems will cost to fix. Do not accept a verbal quote as a contract. Get everything in writing to protect yourself, your money, and your home.

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