Trusty Home Repair, Inc.?

The Situation

A young man came to my office recently and said that he felt his grandparents are getting ripped off. His parents were both deceased, so he felt it was his duty to look after them. While helping them do their taxes, he noticed a reoccurring payment going to a house maintenance company. When he asked them about it, his grandfather told him that whenever anything needed fixing around the house, he called that number, and someone would come out to fix it. It wasn’t a huge monthly amount, but those small amounts add up when someone is on a fixed income.

The Client told me that what really concerned him about this service was the last few times they needed repairs, the policy didn’t cover it. It was outside of their contractual items. When the grandson called the company, he got the run-around, and no one ever called him back. There was no mailing address, just a P.O. Box and the phone number was an 800 number, so he wasn’t even sure where the place located.

The Assessment

While companies like this do exist, offering customers a host of services for one monthly payment, there was something fishy about this company. These scams aren’t new. They target our elderly who are determined to remain independent and live in their own homes. Having a repair service sounds like the ideal solution when you know that climbing a ladder could be dangerous, and perhaps even life-threatening.

I hate it when people prey on the elderly. We took the case.

We Went to Work

First, we had our cyber team do some research. Through several layers of shell companies, they were able to determine that this wasn’t just some fly-by-night operation. It was a national chain that sent their cards in a coupon packet. You know the ones. Local business owners offering discounts on services, national chains offering walk-in-tubs and final expense insurance, senior discount coupons for chain restaurants, etc. The grandparents answered an ad proclaiming that home-repair coverage was the ticket to finding reliable and affordable home repair. They wouldn’t have to come out of pocket for a monthly fee for these often expensive fixes.

Sounds too good to be true, right? Well, it usually is.

I read the contract that the grandparents had signed, and in the fine print, it did have an exclusion list of things that would not be covered. Anything electrical related, plumbing related, foundation-related or acts of God related. That pretty much-covered everything. And, this contract was a binding 10-year contract. There was no getting out of it. I had a contract lawyer look into it for me, and he assured me that this group had dotted all of the I’s and crossed the T’s. Unfortunately, since the grandparents had all of their faculties, they were on the hook for the monthly bill and the costs of actual repairs to their home.

There is a Happy Ending

On a happy note, the lawyer was able to find them a way out. The contract was only in effect as long as the grandparents owned the house. The lawyer recommended they sell the house to their grandson and send a copy of the new deed to the “insurance” company, thereby negating the contract.

It worked!

Unfortunately, it took the actions of a shady company specializing in bilking senior citizens to teach a valuable lesson about having a lawyer read a contract before you sign it. Have a conversation with your elderly parents about these kinds of scams and connect them with a lawyer they can call upon in times of need. You could also sign your parents up with LegalShield. They partner with law firms in the U.S. and Canada to offer assistance with everything from speeding tickets to court representation for a low monthly fee.

If you feel your parents or grandparents are being taken advantage of in any way, give us a call. We find great pleasure in uncovering elderly fraud.

Michael Guadagno & Associates doesn't just catch the bad guys, we help prevent bad situations from occurring. If you're planning to make a big decision and need assurances, contact us.

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