Roofer Tried to Scam and Intimidate My 84 Year Old Neighbor
 

:mad::mad::mad:

Sweetheart of a woman, we've been neighbors for 36 years. I've gotten to know her daughters, sons in law, and grandkids like my own family. I've watched her outlive two wonderful husbands, both dear friends of mine as well. Salt of the earth, every one of them.

Her house is in need of a roof and she has been seeking bids. One of her sons in law shows up when the contractors stop by to inspect in preparation for their bids. On Monday, a contractor stopped by who was doing another roof in a neighboring development, and noticed from afar that hers might need one as well. Totally unsolicited.

She was on her way out the door when he stopped her, and she told him as much. He got pretty pushy with her, insisting it "would only take a minute" (where the other contractors had gone up on the roof, into the attic, and had conducted thorough inspections). She told him she didn't have time, was running late for an appointment, etc. Just give me a card and I'll get back to you, gotta go...

She was gone for three hours. By the time she got home, his crew had removed her roof. I, of course, heard them working, went out to look, and it all looked legit. When she got home, she was in shock and disbelief - she had agreed to nothing, had signed nothing. She pointed all of that out, and he claimed they had a "handshake agreement", so he felt free to start. She had no idea what to do, so she started to head into her house to call her son in law, and me. The guy pushed through the door, followed her up her stairs, and got very, very intimidating with her. She managed to call her son in law, but not me. She didn't have to.

Her son in law was there in five minutes, and it spilled back out into the driveway. And it got loud. Really loud, with an unfamiliar voice shouting threats. I was in my garage with the door open, working on my 3.0 liter rebuild, so I wandered over to investigate. By now this guy was threatening my buddy, my neighbor's son in law, with physical violence.

That's about when I showed up. In my very best "calm but don't fck with me voice", I informed him that he had been told to leave and that he was now trespassing. He started to protest, took a step towards me, and I asked "do you want to add assault to the charges? It's time to leave".

He was back the next morning at oh dark thirty. The police were there almost before he got both feet on the ground out of his truck. I beat them there, but not by much, and they asked me to return to my home, so I did.

In the after action debrief, my neighbor told me that the cops told him if he returned he would be subject to arrest. She wrote a "cease and desist" letter to the company and gave a copy to the police to put in the case file. She is pressing charges for assault (on her and her son in law) and trespassing.

Fortunately, she signed nothing and didn't give them one red cent. She has bids from three legit roofing companies. Looks like the removal is going to be free... Reminds me of my pre-COVID driveway debacle, wherein a contractor removed my driveway, securing a small deposit before never returning.

I cannot believe that this is a "business model" that these kinds of guys pursue. I think they saw an easy target in an 84 year old lady. I bet they now rue the day they even tried...

That's an amazing story! That roofer belongs in prison. And he should get a restraining order now. How can she stay safe in case this guy takes this farther? What was he hoping to do at 12:30am?

Wow.
That's quite a story.
Lot's of that kind of work taking place in our 'hood but I doubt any of it is as shady as what you described.

The whole roofing business has gotten out of hand, I literally just got a call from one who “was going to be in the area” to check for hail damage. I told him I already checked and it was fine.

The amount of roofs that get replaced due to hail damage is ridiculous and we are all paying for it in higher premiums. I can’t believe a few dents from hail are going to make a roof fail anytime soon- yes, it might not last as long, but I don’t think shingles are meant to be a sacrificial covering to protect against hail and then be replaced.

I only halfway joke that roof replacement is almost a social program. Hail comes through an area and everyone gets a new roof whether it really needs it or not.

I think insurance companies should offer a cheaper rate if the roof is only covered for massive damage.

Good on you for being close by and stepping in; so many elderly people aren’t as lucky.

What ia this person's and the name of their roofing company?

It is not libel if it is the truth

You were way cooler to that guy than I would have been.

After any hail storm we get the scammer fly by night "roofers" that get a Google phone number with a local area code on the business cards. I always tell them to Eff off. There are always stories of them taking the payment up front, and never doing anything.

I "have a guy" that owns a real roofing company located in Oklahoma City. He runs a legit company and stand behind his work. He does not get paid until it is all done.

Jeff - thanks for helping your elderly neighbor.

We ALL need to advocate for the innocents.....the elderly, the young, and animals.......

If the company has a bond, maybe a claim will result in a monetary compensation to offset the trouble. Certainly a claim on his/company license could be in order.

Perfect. Just to replace what he took off!

Wow, that guy has some nerve. If he tried to pull that crap in CA he could be out of business pronto. One call to the state contractors license board and his license is suspended or revoked (which he would richly deserve)

Greg,

Add one additional step, file a bond claim against the bond on file with the board. It will light the guy up like the fourth of July. The bond company in such egregious cases will not extend his bond and he will not be able to secure additional work.

And if they have one on file, file against his liability insurance as well. That may be on file at the city where he has a business license. Your local city may have it on file and if not, code enforcement is going to be all over him like a bad dream.

The principals of the company may be carrying separate bonds and liability insurance. If they are principals in other companies (state board is the source of this information), file agains that bond as well.

Works like a charm in cases like this.

Dan

I wish I could have seen that from a lawn chair. For those of you who do not know, Jeff is a large muscular man who is as cool as a cucumber. Former body builder. I'm very surprised the guy took a step toward Jeff. Jeff would not have flinched at all. Steely gaze.

According to my general understanding, if a contractor begins work on your house and you see this occur, and don't say anything, you can be liable for the work. Obviously, that did not happen in this instance.

The guy was one of 'those guys.' In Washington, all contractors are registered and bonded. Except the ones who are not. AFAIK, there is no crime in unregistered contracting. I worked for our state agency. It's like Whack-A-Mole. They can get serious with these guys but they don't have the staff or budgets to deal with all of them and to do so, you need to know where to find them. They don't actually live in their PO Boxes. In fact, they often live in trailers. And when you do crack down...the law calls for a firm slap on the wrist.

Caveat Emptor.

Very strange. Just had my roof done. Company wouldn’t do it without my lender providing written guarantee that agreed upon price of $15k would be paid in full with half up front, massive dumpster in driveway before starting…what business would pay a crew and waste all day (or 3 hours…?) removing a roof…the hardest part of the job…without knowing they would be paid? Was there a dumpster or did they leave all the garbage all over the yard? This is a wild story

Our local evening news channel features these types of scams and mentions the company names to warn people….she should call the news and report it so these people are exposed

Just wondering how does an entire roof get removed in 3 hours ? It took 10 hours to remove mine with a crew of about 5 - full tear off- and my house is very small…does she live in a garden shed?

Okay, I laughed...

Jeff, you did well...'cept maybe you should have worn a Colt? ;)

Good point - mine took a day.

Then again....put enough workers on it and the whole job can be done in 1 day....which is what happened with my Mom's house. 1 day start to finish. The neighbor said it was like a colony of ants crawling all over the roof!

There is also a national 3 day right of rescission law before they can start any work.
The scum was hoping the old lady wouldn't remember she said no and would not "want trouble" and would pay him. He deserves a visit from a few friends... but God wouldn't approve so I say file a complaint and consider suing him!

Yup, from my vantage point (her front yard, my back deck) it looks like they got the whole darn roof off of the place. In about three hours. It looked like maybe 6-7 guys. Granted, I can't see the entire roof, but they did leave behind a couple of pallets of new roofing material, up on her roof. I'm not sure they would go to the trouble of hoisting it up there if there was any old roof still in place. Maybe, I dunno - I'm not a roofer. Maybe they are "highly motivated", and well practiced if this is their modus operandi. They did dispose of all of it, too, in a dumpster still on the truck. Never bothered to take it off of the truck. I think they were in a hurry. I think they have done this before. A lot.

One of my all-time pet peeves are these kinds of people. 30 year old Jeff would have pounded him like a tent stake when he moved towards me. And probably wound up in more trouble than he is in. 63 year old Jeff is a little calmer, a little wiser, and figured we would just let the authorities do their part. The police who arrived at the crack of dawn were magnificent, very professional. I'm sure the rest of the authorities who will soon be involved will be as well. They sure were in the aftermath of my driveway incident five years ago but, as Supe points out, they are spread awfully thin. I think all they can do is make guys like this uncomfortable for awhile, and then they are right back at it. Until maybe (hopefully) someday they meet 30 year old Jeff... ;)

Don't pay contractors up front. Progress payments only. If they lack the capital to get started, then move on.

Here, the first step was demo. Dumpster rental only, and labor. Except there was no rental dumpster involved.

So here is what I know. I insure lots of contractors. Many sketchy roofers are completely uninsured and will not have a bond. Here is what I would do:

1) File against a bond if they have one.
2) File a claim agains Washington L&I for an unethical construction practice (no idea if they enforce this, but it is possible)
3) Check to see if they have workers comp/general liability/license to perform roofing. File complaint with L&I for unlicensed contractor if they do not. Need to be specific on each line.
4) If the guys on the roof were not roped in, and odds are they were not, file an OSHA claim.

I sort of am winging it here on some items (#2 and 3) but I think that L&I would be very interested to know these things.

I would also post on social media with the organization's name stating objectively and factually what happend as a warning.

Good job Higgins!