West Michigan Construction Scam Is Hitting Homeowners Hard

People across West Michigan are being warned of a new scam that could end up costing them a lot of money.

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According to the Kent County Sheriff's Office multiple homeowners have reported  people coming to their door claiming to be construction workers who are in the area and offer homeowners a service, for one price and then when the work is completed and payment is due, they then give the home owner a much higher cost.

One example involves three homeowners In Ada Township.

They all agreed to pay $3,000 to fix a shared driveway, but were later asked for $12,000 upon completion.

Another person in Cascade Township claimed they were approached by workers from a construction company who offered to pave a small section of his driveway with leftover materials, but ended up paving the entire driveway and demanded more money.

Talk about being scammed.

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Sgt. Scott Dietrich with the Kent County Sheriff's Office shared some advice for those approached by a solicitor in a similar fashion.

• Ask solicitors for a permit and business license before agreeing to any work.
• Getting a written quote or contract
• Research the company, and comparing multiple quotes before signing anything.

A key takeaway from these incidents is the critical importance of getting everything in writing, a verbal agreement is not enough.

If not you could be put in a very uncomfortable positions by people who are experts at deceiving people.