Beware of ‘storm chasers’

Homes are still damaged after last week’s wild weather. Hail wrecked havoc on houses keeping contractors and insurance agencies busy, but you can’t hire just anybody when it comes to work on your house.

Contractors are still busy after last week’s hail storm.

“This is all over the whole city. I mean there are thousands of people that’s been effected. They just need to be patient and not jump on the first person that stops by to do work on their house,” says Reuben Wilson, President of Campbell’s Quality Exteriors.

There are people from out of town looking for work in areas damaged by severe weather.

“People are seeing flyers from people that are coming out of the woodwork not local businesses here. We call them storm chasers, people that come into the area when something like this happens to just get the work and you never know the quality of what they may offer,” says Jeremy Johnson, Better Business Bureau.

There are some qualifications contractors need to meet.

“If they’re going door-to-door to do roof repair for example, in the city of Idaho Falls they are required to have an Idaho Falls class d roofing subcontractors license,” says Reginald Fuller, with the City of Idaho Falls.

Some jobs don’t require a city permit but still require a license.

“If they’re just doing siding replacing vinyl siding there’s no permits that are required for that or window replacement. However they should have a state registration. The Idaho Division of Building Safety and the Bureau of Occupational Licenses requires building contracting registration,” says Fuller.

But when in doubt.

“Call either the city of Idaho Falls or the better business bureau and ask the questions,” says Wilson.

Another thing to keep in mind is, in order for people to solicit door to door in Idaho Falls they must have a permit from the city clerk’s office.