Please check your email for your login details.Contractor decision guide
Contractor Red Flags
A polished profile, urgent promise, low price, or familiar logo does not prove that a contractor is properly identified, licensed where required, insured for the work, or prepared to follow the permit process. Slow the decision down enough to verify the facts that matter.
Platform inventory
Apply the red-flag checklist to real providers
Use How We Vet and the live provider directory rather than ending at a generic warning list.01
Watch for pressure and unverifiable identity
Treat door-to-door urgency, claims of leftover materials, a one-day-only price, refusal to provide a legal business name, and demands for immediate access as reasons to pause. The FTC identifies several of these tactics in home-improvement scams. Independently search the company, confirm its address and contact details, and ask who will actually sign the contract.
A profile name can differ from the licensed or registered entity. Ask for the exact license holder and number when the work is regulated, then check Michigan's official source. A screenshot, badge, directory label, or statement that paperwork is pending is not the same as a current government record.
02
Reject vague scopes and undocumented changes
A proposal should identify the work area, materials or performance requirements, exclusions, permits, cleanup, schedule assumptions, payment milestones, and responsibility for damage or corrections. Beware of a price that cannot be tied to quantities, a scope that leaves major selections for later, or a promise that every condition is included without inspection.
Require changes to be described and priced before the extra work proceeds, except when immediate safety requires another response. Repeated verbal additions, disappearing allowances, unexplained deposits, or a refusal to provide receipts can make the final cost impossible to audit. Keep every signed version and communication in one record.
03
Do not let permit responsibility disappear
The FTC specifically flags contractors who tell the homeowner to obtain required building permits as a scam warning sign. Permit responsibility can vary, but it must be discussed openly. Confirm the enforcing authority for the property and ask who will apply, whose license appears on the application, who schedules inspections, and who corrects failed work.
Statements such as no permit needed or the city never checks should be verified with the authority, not accepted as a shortcut. For Detroit, BSEED publishes current permit and inspection paths. Work completed without required approvals can create safety, closing, occupancy, insurance, and future-project problems.
04
Question payment, financing, and guarantee claims
Be cautious when a seller asks for full payment up front, insists on cash, changes the payee, rushes a financing application, or directs you to a lender they control. Read financing and cancellation documents separately from the construction contract. Never sign a completion statement before the documented work and required inspections are complete.
No directory can guarantee workmanship, timing, permit approval, insurance coverage, or dispute resolution. Rebuild Detroit's provider information is a starting point, not an endorsement or warranty. Verify current public records and contract terms yourself, and use qualified legal, insurance, engineering, environmental, or financial help when the project risk calls for it.
Primary sources