Before You Hire Lawn & Garden Looters...

There's nothing wrong with hiring others to do lawn work. There's certainly nothing wrong with ex-felons working at honest manual labor to support themselves. What is wrong, or at least not in your best interest, is blindly to hire a firm you know nothing about.

A reader who is also a casual acquaintance recently contacted us to relate how his property was accessed via a back gate, his garage entered, and both cars broken into. He was out thousands of dollars in damages and still isn't sure just how much his insurance will pay. Do the authorities have a suspect in mind for this crime? Yes. Our friend had recently contracted with a landscaping company to replace sod lost in recent flooding. Several young men had been in and out of his property for days, including entering his garage area. Authorities have said not to expect an arrest unless new evidence turns up.

How can you prevent this from happening to you? Obviously there's no 100% method to evaluate employees beforehand, but here are some obvious and not so obvious tips to stay safe:

1. Ask for references - not from just anyone, but from actual clients whom you can contact in some manner.

2. Ask if the the company is bonded.

3. Ask for the names of those who work for the company - as in who exactly will be on your property during the work.

Once you have a list of names, what do you do with it? Google is your ally in this matter. 

First, do a simple search for "John William Doe" Alabama. You might not turn up anything with such generic terms, but you might hit the jackpot.

Second, do a more specific local search. Key in: "Doe, John" Quad-Cities Daily Arrests. Not all local arrests are listed in this publication, but many are. Again, you might get lucky.

Third, if you have specific reason to distrust one or more employees of the company you've chosen, a simple AlaCourt search should tell you more about most individuals than you'd ever want to know. You can have a legal eagle friend search for you or visit the local courthouse yourself to have a go. Just be prepared for some super slow connections at the latter.

You might not care if a bank robber mows your lawn or a rapist/abuser prunes your Oak tree. No matter how much you do or don't care, you have a right to know. 

At Acme Lawn Care, We Give You the Full Treatment!