{"id":15205,"date":"2020-12-14T12:37:47","date_gmt":"2020-12-14T16:37:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/?p=15205"},"modified":"2021-06-08T14:00:15","modified_gmt":"2021-06-08T18:00:15","slug":"scam-alert-paving-scams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/scam-alert-paving-scams\/","title":{"rendered":"SCAM Alert: Paving Scams"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Readington Township Police Department has issued a scam alert for its residents.\u00a0 I am sure this scam is not limited to Readington Township but can be found all over Hunterdon County.\u00a0 The scam consists of unsolicited offers to pave a residential driveway.\u00a0 As usual with these scams, the elderly are targeted.<\/p>\n

Unscrupulous Pavers<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>The police report that a paving company, which has not applied for a solicitation permit, will knock on a door and claim to have extra materials from a job nearby.\u00a0 The scam artist will offer a low price and pressure the homeowner into accepting.\u00a0 When the job is done, the workmanship will be shoddy, and the contractor will then charge a higher price than was quoted.\u00a0 The homeowner will be threatened or intimidated into paying.<\/p>\n

The Warning Signs<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Readington Police Department has made the following list of warning signs and comments:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Selling door to door<\/strong>. Reputable paving companies will rarely, if ever, sell their product door-to-door.<\/li>\n
  2. Claiming to have leftover material from another job.<\/strong> Professional asphalt contractors know, with great accuracy, how much paving material is needed for a job.\u00a0 They will rarely have leftover material.<\/li>\n
  3. Pushing you to make a quick decision.<\/strong> Reputable\u00a0 contractors will provide a written estimate that will be valid for days or weeks.\u00a0 If the great deal they are offering you today is not available tomorrow or next week, it is probably a scam. Never hire anyone on the spot.\u00a0 Ask for references and check them.<\/li>\n
  4. No contract is offered.<\/strong> Insist on a written contract specifying, in detail, the work to be performed and the agreed upon total price\u2014not the price per square foot<\/em>.<\/li>\n
  5. Requiring cash only sales.<\/strong> Most reputable contractors will take checks or credit cards and do not require cash-only terms.<\/li>\n
  6. Details that seem to be too good to be true.<\/strong> If the quoted price seems very low, chances are the quality of the work will be very low.<\/li>\n
  7. An unmarked truck.<\/strong> Often the trucks they travel in are unmarked or they have an out of town address and phone number.\u00a0 A little research will reveal that they have no permanent address and the phone number is often an answering machine.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Good General Advice<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

    Many of these points listed by the police apply to all solicitations, including those over the phone. If you are being pressured to \u201cact now\u201d, or told you are in a situation where, if you do not act now, something terrible will happen to you or a loved one, alarms should set off in your mind. Stop. Do not act.\u00a0 There is seldom a situation where more time will not be allowed.\u00a0 Call your police department, a neighbor or a loved one.\u00a0 Check with them first.<\/p>\n

    Keep your outside storm door locked.\u00a0 Especially the back door.\u00a0 Many times you will be kept busy at the front door while another person walks around and enters your house from the rear.<\/p>\n

    By law, contractors performing work on residential homes are required to give you a written contract with all of the terms spelled out.\u00a0 It must contain a license number, and the ability to cancel within three business days.\u00a0 There are severe penalties to contractors who do not comply with this law.<\/p>\n

    \n

    Robert J. Shanahan, Jr. Esq. focuses his practice in estate planning, elder law and probate matters.\u00a0 Mr. Shanahan additionally practices in business law and non-profit matters. He is a trained, experienced mediator and offers dispute resolution services, particularly for those arising from probate and elder law matters. Additionally, Mr. Shanahan\u2019s firm, Law Offices of Robert J. Shanahan, Jr., LLC, offers a breadth of additional services to families and businesses throughout central New Jersey.<\/p>\n

    Mr. Shanahan received his Juris Doctor from the Temple University School of Law in 1985, and obtained licensure in New Jersey in the same year.\u00a0 He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in History in 1981 from William Paterson University, with honors.\u00a0 Robert is a member and Past President of the Hunterdon County Bar Association, and is a member of its Elder Law Committee. He is also active in the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and its New Jersey Chapter. He is pro bono counsel for Volunteer Guardianship One on One, in Flemington, New Jersey. Bob was named as a Super Lawyer in 2020.<\/p>\n

    You may contact Bob at (908) 751-1551, or robert@legalcounselnj.com<\/a>. \u00a0\u00a0For more information, visit www.legalcounselnj.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The Readington Township Police Department has issued a scam alert for its residents.\u00a0 I am sure this scam is not limited to Readington Township but can be found all over Hunterdon County.\u00a0 The scam consists of unsolicited offers to pave a residential driveway.\u00a0 As usual […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":15296,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3282,12,3007],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15205"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15205"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15205\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}