Are Your Katy, TX Roof Repair Providers Faithful with Their Payments?
[WFLA.com, September 24, 2013]
For some Tampa Bay area consumers NBRC’s offer of a new roof they didn’t have to pay for seemed too good to be true…and they were right.
“These people need to be stopped,” said homeowner Pamela Beynon. “I don’t know what to do, I’m at a total loss.”
Records show that Beynon’s insurance company paid NBRC for a new roof to replace the storm-damaged one on her Pinellas Park home back in May and June.
But all she has to show for that $9,000 insurance claim three months later is a lot of excuses and a letter from NBRC’s attorneys that places blame for the stalled installation on contractors, insurance companies and hard economic times.
Roofers normally keep in touch with three parties: the customer, the supplier, and the insurance firm. Katy, TX roof repair services like Summit Roofing & Restoration often provide only the skills in fixing or installing roofs while paying the supplier for the materials. This is an important relationship, as a recent story in southern Florida goes, because the customer may end up filling for a roofer’s inability to pay the supplier; that amounts to thousands in liens.
In Pinellas County, FL, one of the areas affected by this scam, residents looking for a simple roofing fix found their bills skyrocket to as much as $12,000. As it turned out, the roofing contractor in question never made any payments to either the supplier or the insurance companies (regardless of their claim that they do so). The roofing company is long gone but it left many Floridians in dire straits.
How Can I Protect Myself Against Unscrupulous Roofing Contractors?
Is there a way to protect yourself from roofers that don’t pay their suppliers? According to the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County, you can ask a Katy, TX roofing repair contractor for what is called a Contractor’s Affidavit of Final Release. In fact, this is a must in any roofing contract signed. Before making the rest of the payment, ask for this document to make sure the roofer will duly pay the supplier and insurance company for the project.
In this case, it’s possible to have an attorney go over the contract due to the details included. As long as you understand the terms of the contract and secure the necessary paperwork, you’re less likely to find yourself cleaning up someone’s terrible mess.