By Crime watch

Town Crier Staff Report

Los Altos police are investigating this season’s first report about a possible home-repair scam that occurred Feb. 24.

An 80-year-old resident told police that two men posing as a father-son contracting team came to her house offering to clean her gutters for an unusually low price. After they cleaned the gutters, they told her that the gutters had holes and needed to be patched. When they had finished patching the gutters, one of the men was holding a shingle from the woman’s roof and informed her that the roof needed repairs, the resident told police.

The men charged the woman for three cases of shingles to patch an area comprising five shingles. The men allegedly scammed $700 from the woman before leaving.

Residents reported three similar incidents to police between last January and May.

Police said frequently small teams of con artists will target a community, approaching single or elderly residents.

They offer to do roofing, asphalt or other home repairs at a great discount. The work is often shoddy, and in most cases, all that is ever done is a light application of paint or tar that washes away after the first rain.

Police remind residents to always ask to see the contractor’s license before agreeing to have home repairs done; get all agreements in writing; and be cautious of “repairmen” going door-to-door offering to do work at low prices.

Community Service Officer Rod Sayre said a city ordinance prohibits solicitors from going door-to-door asking for money. The city does grant non-profit groups a special permit that allows them to sell goods in residential areas. The permit is good for two weeks and the person must carry the permit while soliciting residents. For more information, call the Los Altos Police Department at 948-8223.