Is this curb painting letter a scam? (HOA, house)

[runback22]

Someone came into our neighborhood today and put up a letter on our door that they will be out tomorrow to paint our address on our curb.

They are saying to fill out the form, tape it to our front door, and we will be charged $20.

It has no contact info, no business name, and no mention of who will be charging you. It reeks of a scam. Should I call the non emergency police line?

Has anyone received one of these letters?

[Bo]

You should be worried if they want you to pay in advance. If you get to pay after the work is done, there's less risk.

[runback22]

That's the thing. It has no contact info or name and doesnt say how to pay. I was seeing some news stories on youtube about how these people just paint your curb regardless if you ask for it and then hassle you for payment.

The whole letter itself is suspicious. They make it sound like its the city doing this.

[Bo]

Originally Posted by runback22

That's the thing. It has no contact info or name and doesnt say how to pay. I was seeing some news stories on youtube about how these people just paint your curb regardless if you ask for it and then hassle you for payment.

The whole letter itself is suspicious. They make it sound like its the city doing this.

I would assume they'll leave you an invoice and an address to mail your check to, or a way to pay by PayPal.

You've got documentation of what they charge for the service. If they try to charge more, the law is on your side.

It's the kind of job that it's not cost-effective for a painter to do as a one-off. That's why they're trying to line up a bunch of them. My HOA hired someone to do this a few years ago.

[Ceece]

I've done this before and they painted our house number on the curb. It wasn't a rip off, it seems to be an easy thing for someone to do who needs money. Of course you could just have someone come take the money and do nothing, but in my case it worked out.

[K12144]

Call the city and ask if they're doing this?

[ged_782]

Originally Posted by K12144

Call the city and ask if they're doing this?

The City doesn't paint address numbers for private property on curbs or driveway entrances, that's up to individual property owners to have done at their own request. I wouldn't trust the City to do that anyway, judging by the all street signs I've seen showing incorrect block numbers.


I've gotten those kind of letters on my door periodically over the years. Usually you are supposed to fill out the form, and tape it back on your door the next day. when someone will come along and paint the numbers for those who request. I took one of them up on their offers years ago, when they were painting numbers on the driveway approaches, rather than the curb. They painted the numbers, then rang my doorbell to get my QA check of their completed work and collect the money. Never got them repainted after they eventually succumbed to the elements, though.


Never seemed like a scam to me, just some enterprising individual who is looking to make some easy money with only a minimum investment in stencils and paint.

[flashfearless]

They’re required to be permitted if they’re doing this and the permit isn’t cheap.

[Zone Read]

It's a scam because they imply that you must get it done and that they have some type of exclusive authority to do it. It's also a scam that they offer to use logos or symbols of sports teams or universities that they aren't paying licensing fees to, which is a violation of federal law. But, from what I have seen living here for the past 30 years, they actually do the work.

[supfromthesite]

Imagine paying a licensing fee for drawing a longhorn stencil on a curb.
Capitalism has gone too far.