LUFKIN, Texas — To know who to hire when you need work done around your home can be hard. Experts say there are some red flags you should be aware of when inquiring about home services.
Many private home contractors can appear to be legitimate online or by word of mouth, but in person, they can turn out to be the complete opposite.
On Thursday, September 16, 2021, a couple was found dead in their Lufkin home after being beaten to death with lawn care tools.
Michael Rodriguez, 28, has been charged with capital murder in connection with the deaths. Police say Rodriguez, who had 18 previous arrests in Angelina County, was part of the crew the pair hired to take care of their yard.
This latest crime has the Tony Pilaon, owner of Tony’s Lawn Service, taking extra precautions when it comes to hiring lawmen to work for his business.
"I will definitely be extra careful when it comes to hiring new employees, I have to do a background check since I don't know where they came from," said Pilaon.
Mechele Mills, CEO and President of the Better Business Bureau of Central East Texas, says people shouldn’t always go by word of mouth.
"Just keep in mind that word of mouth is just one step of the process. somebody might have said this person did a good job for me, but they might have done a terrible job for 10 other people,” said Mills.
Those are just some of the red flags the BBB warns you to be aware of.
"Other things you want to look for is what kind of documentation do they have that they're a legitimate business to begin with," said Mills. "Is there is their vehicle wrapped with their company logo? That's going to be somebody that's probably more legitimate than somebody who has a yellow pad, with no business cards, to identify them as a legitimate business."
Mills also says doing further research to ensure the safety of you and your home.
"Go and research somebody and then choose somebody after I’ve done my homework, it's always best to do it that way, rather than to just you know, somebody's either calling you or somebody come into your door, and you're not having the chance to do that ticket, get that background information on that company or on that individual,” said Mills.