A ugust 3, 1994 » T he P ortland O bserver
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Protect Yourselt Against Electrical Scams
If your home needs electrical
work, be smart and cautious. There
are a small number of companies in
the Portland area who are engaging
in illegal practices, often overcharg­
ing consumers by huge amounts. The
Oregon-Columbia Chapter of the
National Electrical Contractors As­
sociation (NECA) recently assisted
the Oregon Attorney General’s of­
fice with their investigation of these
scams in the electrical industry.
NECA provided information which
the organization had been compiling
on the unscrupulous practices to the
Attorney General’s office, served as
consultants during the investigation,
and provided a standard of conduct
against which the attorney General's
office was able to measure the con­
tractors they were investigating.
To protect yourself from such
illegal and unethical practices, here
are some tips from the Oregon-Co­
lumbia Chapter of NECA and the
International Brotherhood o f Elec­
trical Workers (IBEW) Local 48P:
1. Always get at least two com­
irehensive bids on the work you need
neea
prehensive
done. “And be sure to get your quotes large telephone director ad with many
in writing,” advises Geoff Gotham, phone numbers listed. Listing mul­
Vice President of NECA-member tiple numbers does not necessarily
Rose City Electric. “Then, when mean that contractor actually has a
you’re ready to actually have the location in your area. The number
work done, a contract which clearly may all be directed to one central
spells out everything is your best number. “You really can’t jude the
bet.’’ In addition, there is no need to size of a company by the quantity of
pay a fee for any estimate. “Very, telephone numbers they list in an ad,
very few professional contractors says Timothy Gauthier, Executive
Manager of NECA. “As a matter of
would ask a fee for an estimate,
comments Vicky Bacon, Vice Presi­ fact, the largest contractor in the city
dent of Marketing for Christenson only has one number.” “You may
Electric. “All the contractors I know also want to be cautious if the com­
pany doesn’t list a street address,”
of Provide free estimates.”
2. If you’re calling an electri­ adds Jim Ferris, of NECA-member
cal contractor from a telephone di­ o f Red’s Electric and Past President
rectory ad, check to see the Oregon o f the Oregon Remodeler’s Associa­
Construction Contractor s Board tion.
4. Contact the Better Business
(CCB) number is in the ad. Legally, it
Bureau
for a report on the contractor
should be. Then you can check with
you’re
considering.
For your conve­
the Oregon State Board of Contrac­
nience,
the
BBB
system
is now auto­
tors to make sure the contractor is
mated.
All
you
have
to
do to get a
licensed to do business in Oregon. If
report
is
to
enter
the
telephone
num­
the number is not listed in the ad, ask
for it. you can also check the ad, or ber of the business you wish to in­
ask, to make sure the contractor is quire about.
5. Find out if the contractor is
licensed, bonded, and insured.
a
member
of a self-policing organi-
3.
Be
cautious
when
you
see
a
j. D evauuvua
zation such as NECA and IBEW.
That information may be listed in
their ad, or you can ask for it on the
phone. Not only do these types of
organizations hold their members to
high standards of ethical conduct and
expertise, but a company’s member­
ship in these organizations provides
you with another place to check cre­
dentials.
6. Call the Oregon-Columbia
chapter o f NECA for a listing of
member contractors in your area.
NECA will gladly provide you with
the names of professional member
contractors in your area who do the
type of work you need. You may
contact NECA at (503) 233-5787.
7. You may also wish to get
references from the electrical con­
tractor you’re considering. Usually
references are selected that are simi­
lar to the one a particular customer
needs done.
8. You should never feel
threatened or uncomfortable for any
reason. If you do, call someone else.
Professional contractors, especially
contractors who do a lot o f residen-
tial work, are very sensitive to the
fact th at they are w o rk in g in
someone’s home. The want you to
have a positive experience and will
work to accommodate your needs.
9. Be wary of false discounts.
And be especially wary of discounts
offered to senior citizens. Remem­
ber... your best bet is to get two or
more comprehensive bids for the spe­
cific work you need done. When you
Insurance Refund Awaits Home Owners
If you have ever bought a home
or owned real property, the United
States Government is holding money
on a nationwide data file for unpaid
claims that may belong to you, or one
of your family memebers.
It d o e s n 't
matter if you pur­
chased this prop­
erty several years
back, even back to
1940, you can still
file a claim for
your refund. This
does not only apply to people who
might have bought their house or
property through the H. U D program,
it covers any and all persons that
might have purchased real property
and had it finance with a bank, mort­
gage company etc.
If you paid off or have sold your
mortgage, you probably did not know
that you are entitled to several hun­
dreds of dollars from the Federal
Government. This is your money.
All you have to do to collect it is to
write a letter to H.U.D. and ask for
your refund. O f course you will have
to include the following information
in your letter. 1) your F.H.A. Mort­
gage Case Numbers, 2) the address of
the property and 3) the state in which
the property is located. You can find
the case number on your mortgage
papers. You must submit your re­
quest to the Department of Housing
and Urban Development, Distribu­
tion Share Branch, P. O. Box 23699,
W a s h in g to n ,
D .C ., 20026-
3699, Attention:
F.O.I.A. Within
Omari
60daysofreceipt
Kenyatta,
of your letter by
J.D.
this department,
—1 you should re­
ceive a U.S. Treasury check from
H.U.D. in the mail in your name or
your parents name if they are de­
ceased. This is how easy it is for you
to collect the funds that are owed to
you.
You are probably wondering
why is this money owed to me? The
reason you are entitled to this money
is that if you will recall when you
purchased your home or property,
you were required by law to purchase
an F.H.A. Insurance Premium for
this mortgage. The first one is M.M.I.
which means Mutual Mortgage In­
surance. The second kind is M.I.P.
Mortgager Insurance. You had to have
one of these premiums in order to
obtain a loan for your mortgage. This
is where your refund is coming from.
The funds may have accumulated
doing the time the mortgage insur­
ance was in effect. Now that his mort­
gage is paid off or sold, you should
have a refund coming to you from
this premium.
I want you to have it well fixed in
your mind that you do have money
owed to you by the Federal Govern­
ment. There are perhaps some excep­
tion to this general rule, but they will
take care of themselves when they
arise. So, if you want your refund you
must start the process by filing your
papers along with your request to
H.U.D. for your M.M.I. and your
M.I.P. Premium Insurance Refund.
do, you may find that the so-called
discount was no discount at all.
10. Don’tletyourselfberushed.
Sometimes unscrupulous companies
pressure consumers to agree to the
work immediately because we might
not be available later. The best ad­
vice? Take your time. There are
enough professional local contrac­
tors and electricians in the area to do
your job on your schedule.
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Portland OR, 97232
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REALTOR
700 NE Multnomah, Suite #400
Portland, Oregon 97232
George A. Hendrix
MBA, GRI, Broker
T H E D R EA M O F O W N IN G Y O U R O W N H O M E C A N C O M E
T R U E FO R A B O U T W H A T Y O U ’RE PA Y IN G IN R EN T .
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