Beware of Curb Painting Scammers

The next time someone knocks on your door and offers to repaint your house address on the curb outside or a fee, make sure you don’t get scammed. The service making the offer must have a city permit to paint curbs.

According to the Los Angeles Municipal code, curb painting is illegal without a proper permit as well as insurance.

But many people don’t know that, as was the case with an Eagle Rock resident who lives on Avenue 45, near Occidental College.

As Patch reported earlier this month, the resident paid $20 to a service that repaints curbside addresses—only to find that the service had painted the wrong house number. The service left no contact information on its flyer—a sure sign that it did not have the necessary permit to do business.

After the resident’s unfortunate experience, Patch contacted the Public Affairs department of the City of Los Angeles Board of Public Works for a list of authorized curb painting vendors.

According to Paul Gomez, a public relations specialist in the Board of Public Works, there are only two vendors permitted to do curb painting in the City of Los Angeles:

1) Curb Numbering Service: (424) 206-3079

2) Care for the Children: (888) 227-3801

Correction: The caption for the attached photo initially and inadvertently referred to Curb Addressing Service as an "authorized" vendor of curb painting. Apologies for the oversight—Curb Addressing Service is not an authorized vendor.