Those who are scarring our trees and scamming our community, known as “woodchucks,” enter neighborhoods and look for signs of vulnerability:

Unkempt yards
Handicap-accessible tags or ramps
Elderly people doing yard work

Woodchucks then propose to do yard work, often for marked up prices and often without the proper skills and techniques of an arborist. Some woodchucks never return to do the work. There’s one example of a case with 10 co-defendants that took almost $400,000 from one victim over six years.

http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/news2/dont-fall-for-tree-trimming-scams/

These people look at the Code Compliance database. They know that if you don't comply within 2 weeks, Code Compliance takes you to court.

So they show up days after you get cited and offer a way out. Often they don't do the job right, if at all. When Code Compliance shows up for the re-inspect, you get the bad news. Code Compliance doesn't care. They tell you to be more careful.

Even if you tell them you called the licensed people and they were booked, Code Compliance does not care! Too many people have had to pay "woodchucks" and then pay fines and get a criminal record from Code Compliance.

Code Compliance should get rid of the database or make a list of proven vendors, or start to enforce the licensing regulations.

Just another example of how poorly run the County is.

Right, the County is responsible for the existence of criminal assholes. The criminal assholes are in no way at fault. Can't get much more stupid than you are.

FFX is enabling the criminality, not completely responsible for it.

No improvement. Still on the cutting edge of stupid. Nicely paved roads "enable" the get-away of bank robbers in your complete mess of an irrational world. Take some night courses or something.

You need car insurance. This is a licensed business. If someone unlicensed sells you "insurance" they get fried.

Fairfax does nothing to unlicensed/fraudulent contractors.

You, "stupid dumbfuck" live up to your name.

insurance model Wrote:
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> You, "stupid dumbfuck" live up to your name.

LOL! The best you've got? What a laughable little right-wing churl! The County prosecutes fraud. And bank robbery. Go flush your ignorant and worthless self down the toilet and good riddance to you.

Then why did the county fail, in its infinite wisdom and benevolent omnipotence, fail to prosecute the people who charged our neighbors, who are elderly and disabled, nearly $2,000 to clean up a "mess" targeted by code enforcement?

The neighbors had cancelled checks, so the bank could be identified, they had several phone numbers that could be traced and they had license plates that could also have been traced. FCPD did nothing, claiming it was a misunderstanding. They would not even take a report.

After hiring an attorney (yet more $$), code enforcement backed off a little.

Bottom line was, code enforcement quite willing to take these people to the magistrate, county unwilling to investigate the scammers.

If the county were as zealous about prosecuting fraud, they would not be nearly as interested in a guy with some junk in his yard, and go after some educational consultant bilking the schools out of tens of thousands based on some online degree.