All Forum Posts by: Beatriz Goudie

I was renovating a buy and hold single family home that was a gut job. I hired a young guy with a new company that was just starting out to install impact windows and doors on the whole house. I looked him up online, called and spoke with several very happy customers. He asked for a 50% deposit, which is the norm with impact windows here and I gave it to him after signing a contract and the permit papers. After a few weeks he asked for more money to pick up the windows from the manufacturer and I got nervous so I asked to see the order with the company, which he provided so I gave him some more money. When my project was several weeks delayed because we didn't have the windows and doors he dropped off a few windows at the home when I wasn't there. The weeks after that became and odyssey of detective work trying to figure out what was happening. In the end, 1) he had never applied for the permit, 2) he had never ordered the windows/doors and sent me a fake order, 3) he disappeared. Sadly, I lost 2 months of rental income, hours of time fixing the mess, and $8,000. I gained sleepless nights and a lesson.