Fraudulent asphalt repair companies strike again

According to several reports from the Springfield area, con artists are going door-to-door offering to pave or seal driveways and parking lots.

“These scam artists typically emerge in the late spring and early summer, often staying under the public’s radar by moving from town to town offering low estimates and making false promises about their work,” Nixon said in a June 15 news release.

“In many cases, the work is started but never finished or is of such poor quality that it must be removed at an additional cost to the homeowner. And by the time the homeowner realizes what has happened, the scammers are long gone,” he added.

Springfield Contractors Association Executive Director Sheryl Letterman said she’s not familiar with any of the specific cases this summer, but she knows the scam.

“This is one of the oldest scams in the book, right along with people saying, ‘We’ll paint your house if you give us the money for the paint,’ and they never show back up,” Letterman said. “It seems to go around every summer.”

Nixon and Letterman agree that common sense is the best prevention. They suggest checking references and never accepting work from a solicitor.

“I would not ever trust anybody that came to my door and solicited,” Letterman said. “That’s what I tell people who call us – if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. And don’t hire anybody without checking their references. If they don’t have anybody you can talk to that’s happy with the job they did, you don’t want them.”

She added that while there are no specific requirements for membership in SCA, long-term membership in a professional organization is a good indicator that a company is legitimate.

Consumers who want to file a complaint about driveway scams or other fraud should call the attorney general’s consumer protection hotline at (800) 392-8222 or file a complaint online at www.ago.mo.gov.