The fake curb painting notice. Courtesy of Noe Valley SF
Reader JD sent us a heads up that the infamous “curb painting scam” is popping up in the outer Richmond. Homes near Cabrillo Playground received the following notices on their doors:
Tomorrow fresh new address numbers will be painted on the curb in front of all the homes on your block, this is an important service as this is where Police, Fire, Delivery and Emergency personnel first look for your home. We estimate the value of the curb number to be $15.00, however, all donations, large or small, are greatly appreciated, if you do not wish to have this paint service performed, please tape a Notice to your curb and we will bypass your home. Thank you! – Community Services
This notice is not “official”, and has nothing to do with the city of San Francisco. Homeowners are not required to have their house numbers painted on their front curbs, and if you do come home and see one has been painted there, you are under no obligation to pay anyone for it (no matter how much they might berate you).
Last October, the SFMTA posted a notice on their website about the scam, writing, “Residents should be aware that this is an illegal scam and is not endorsed by the SFMTA. The SFMTA’s policy is not to paint address numbers on the curb. In addition, the SFMTA Color Curb painting crew will never demand payment on the spot or to be left at the front door to collect.” Example of scam flyer
Sarah B.
My house got one a month or two ago and we taped the noticed on our home (not curb) so they accidentally painted the number I think… actually I never checked if the curb was painted. Someone rang our door bell and I said we taped up the notice, and the guy was like oh ok no no prob. so i didn’t get hassle. I guess it’s a low key scam by not drawing angry attention.
From the notice itself I knew it was not an official notice, and that it was more like a fundraising attempt from some organization. but what time of organization have no real name?
I grew up in San Francisco, and recall this type of activity happening years ago. Well, since this a scam.. how difficult would it be to catch the perpetrators?? If a handful of people gets solicitated while they’re making their rounds collecting money. Those people visited should call the police immediately, so they can be caught. Otherwise, this type of illegal activity will continue.
Also, since it takes 2 visits. 1st to post the notice, 2nd to paint the curb & solicite the $$, it should be easy to catch these scums. The police could also follow the fresh paint while this is happening. But this type of activity has to get reported. — Do the math, if they collect $$ even from just a few people per hour, they’re raking in big bucks!
Can’t these guys/gals be prosecuted for vandalism? Isn’t putting unsoliciited markings or graffitti on public or private property a crime?
This scam has been popping up every few years for decades now and it’s probably the grandkids of the scam originator that are now hoping to collect off the recent arrivals to SF.
Do everyone a favor and call 911 if you see anyone painting any public property that isn’t part of a City crew. You’ll be able to tell it’s a City Crew because it takes 6 workers and 3 trucks to do what one person and a paint bucket can do.
I think everyone can calm down with the hyperventilation on this issue: with my house, they painted the numbers without permission but did a very nice, tidy job, and when one of the painters asked me for money I simply said no because I had not requested this service and the guy just said “okay, thanks” and moved on. I see no evidence that they are scammers, “scum,” or graffiti-ers. And, frankly, it is a useful service to have your home address on your curb. Seriously, this is not that big a deal. Real graffiti that defaces property and makes you feel like you’re living in the South Bronx — that’s a big deal, and those guys are indeed scum and should be severely punished.
I too had my number painted on the curb, and it was done very nice. When the entreprenour painter came to my door, I had a nice conversation with him and happily gave him the suggested $15. I like to help those less fortunate, and as always, you’re free to say no.
Job creation in our own neighborhood!
Don’t try this in Rmoney/Ryan’s neighborhood and don’t hold your breath while waiting for the city to do it.
Hey folks, moved out to the East Bay a couple years ago from SF and got one out here too. So SF is not the only place this is happening. I agree, don’t make such a big deal about it, no one is being hassled and no obligation on your part. You uppity City folk…
Glad to see there are some reasonable people on here. Scam, yes. Guys trying to provide a service for fee; yes. I’ve had them knock on my door and ask and I’ve always said “no thank you” and then they say, “ok, thanks, have a good day.”
Now the two young adults claiming to be from “the neighborhood” and asking for a “school donation” to fund their trip to Spain, that got pretty pushy when I told them to ‘beat it’ — that was a scam. Anyone else have these jokers stop by?
When a car parks in front of the curb that has the address painted on it that makes said ‘service’ rather useless doesn’t it? Besides, when you, police/firefighters are looking for an address you look at the *door* anyway.
Ok, maybe I was a little harsh.. I admit. But, I am disturbed by people who impersonate or try to represent someone else. Secondly, how the notice is cleverly written. I did not request this service & now i need to put a note out in the curb to bypass my address. And if I don’t, your gonna paint my curb & then come up to my door to request a donation. — Yes, you can say No. But, this still equates to someone soliciting my house. But in this case, they got an upper hand in doing a service you did not request.
I hope they come to my neighborhood. They did at my last house, and it was a great help in stopping people from parking in the driveway and blocking the garage. It does look official, shows people it is a driveway (some people actually don’t seem to notice!), and may give the impression that you are on top of things. You can afford a $750,000 house, a $30,000 car, and you hyperventilate about a workman asking $15?
Ughhh annoying. Thank you for sharing this.
If they paint the right number with good quality – happy to give a few bucks. Easier than having to go to Ace and spend $ for stencils (I’ll only use once) and spray paint (I’ll only use once). Right?
right on jim#12 and paul#7.
The antidote to curb painting is paint curbing.
Warning: THE MAN OPERATING THIS SCAM IS A RACIST.
The man who painted my numbers had been coming to my house every few days for several weeks in July trying to get payment by loudly knocking on my door and continually ringing my doorbell for ~10 mins each time. One day I left for work exactly when he arrived at my door so I couldn’t ignore him. He then took out a small notepad, wrote something down and asked for money.
When I said ‘No’, he angrily walked away saying in a mock asian accent: “Yeah, all you Chinese say the same thing. ‘Me Chinese, me no have no money! Me no speak no English! Me no money! Me no English! Wah-ah-soh… Me Chinese, me no have no money, me no speak no English!'” Then walked away shouting the lines in repetition all the way down the block, making sure I could hear it.
So for any of you who think that although this is a scam, that the guy deserves some kind of tip for painting your numbers, think again. The guy is a racist and therefore deserves nothing.
The man is white, ~45-55 years old, ~6 feet tall, straggly/unwashed blond medium-long hair, weathered face, almost looking like the actor Nick Nolte in his infamous DUI mug shot. He was also wearing the same outfit every time he came to my door: A long sleeve red and black plaid flannel shirt, light blue jeans, and an overstuffed red backpack.
After he walked away, I promptly took out my phone and video recorded him walking down the block as he continued to yell out the racist comments. Then, I got in my car and followed him to see where he lives, but it became obvious that I was tailing him because he was walking and I was driving. And because of his outfit and the fact that he wore the same outfit everytime, one can guess that he’s semi-homeless. I then gave up the slow-speed chase and went to work.
There is a good article by SF blogger ‘Akit’s Complaint Department’ on this Curb Painting Scam in the Richmond which you can google.
This isn’t really a scam, as they will deliver a service if you ask- they mislead the homeowner into the business transaction though. I think its kind of inventive, I mean at least for a cheap $15 people will have their address clearly visible and professionally painted.
I didn’t want mine painted so I just left the note on the door like they placed it. They think no one is home and don’t paint your curb.
I paint home addresses my self and my flier asks people to fill out their name and address and leave the flier posted the next day. I also only charge $10. It is not a scam, just a poor marketing campaign for the flier that was posted.
I live in the San Fernando Valley. They left the note by my front door right next to my big sing that reads: “Thank you for NOT soliciting”. I did not tape it on the curb, sometime later they painted my home numbers on the curb. (my numbers were perfect. They did NOT needed to be re-painted). The next day they came to collect, I pointed at the sign I have in my porch that reads: “Thank you for NOT soliciting” and said: “I told you guys I did not want that painted”. They guy looked at the sign, said: “hugg” and left. Every year is the same thing. I’m not going to inconvenience myself taping their note, and then removing the note after they are done with my block. I hope one day they read my sign and leave my house alone. They did not do a good job anyway as the alignment and spacing are off and their stencil was not perfectly flush in contact to the curb, so spray went under bottom halve of the numbers and now they look blurry.