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Small Businesses Going Under A Possible Trend

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Oct 11, 2008 6:23 pm US/Mountain

Small Businesses Going Under A Possible Trend

Reporting
Howard Nathan
CASTLE ROCK, Colo. (CBS4) ― One symptom of the economic downturn is small businesses going under. The economy isn't only affecting small businesses, but homeowners who hire locally.

Koby Kampschroeder's backyard looked bad before paying almost $7,000 to We Landscape Colorado to start building a bigger patio and landscaping. Four weeks later, the company closed.

"I think she's cheating me and I don't think it's fair," Kampschroeder said.

He said contractor Lisa Roberts took his money. CBS4's Howard Nathan found her at her Littleton home with office furniture in her garage.

"I'm not going to do a TV thing," she told Nathan.

Roberts' subcontractor, Mario Vazquez, is also feeling wronged.

"If they were thinking of going out of business, I think it would be fair to let me know so I could let the homeowners know," Vazquez said.

Vazquez believes Roberts collected $15,000 from jobs that ended without warning or haven't even begun.

Kampschroeder said there was no indication they were going out of business.

"I'm not making any comment," Roberts told Nathan.

Nathan asked Jean Herman, President of the Denver Better Business Bureau, if Roberts' business failure an indication of more to follow.

"My gut is we're seeing a little more; not enough data yet," Herman said.

Herman said in this economy, paying 40 percent of the job upfront, like Kampschroeder did, is too much.

"Negotiate and put a little bit down and see how it's going, a good contractor will be fine with that," Herman said.

The Better Business Bureau said what happened to Kampschroeder should not keep others from hiring contractors. They may even get lower bids for projects these days, but also remember that good economy or bad, quality contractors will have no objections to accepting checks for materials payable to the hardware store.

Herman said she'll have more information on business closings next week. She expects it will increase compared to last year. It's another reason why consumers need to be more cautious these days.

(© MMIX CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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