Roofing Company Leaves Homeowners With Unpaid Bills
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (CBS4)- Homeowners in the Denver metro area are being penalized after an Aurora roofing company failed to pay its bills.
Brian Fliedner's aunt spent $10,000 to get her roof replaced in August but two months later she received a letter saying she needs to pay $3,600 dollars for the supplies or have a lien placed on her home.
"The roof is on the house here so it's still their goods," said Fliedner.
The work was done by the Roof Doctor based in Aurora. The supplier, Milwaukee Insulation, claims the Roof Doctor never paid for the materials.
Roof Doctor is owned by Walter McClendon and has since closed. The supplier said McClendon hadn't paid for materials on many of his projects and now homeowners are stuck with the bill.
"If they're not paid they can file a lien against the property," said Steve Berken, a bankruptcy lawyer in Denver. "They can convince foreclosure actually."
This is a common problem in Colorado since roofers are not regulated by a government agency. In last year's session, Senator Lois Tochtrop tried to pass legislation regulating roofers but it was denied.
"I think it's pretty unfair to a homeowner who in good faith paid to have the roof fixed and because this unscrupulous roofer is not paying his suppliers that the burden falls on the homeowner, it's wrong," said Tochtrop, a Democrat representing Adams County.
"When you get a slick salesman like Mr. Roof Doctor, folks tend to write all their check to them from the insurance company," said Berken.
Instead, Berken said consumers should only pay half of the money up front and get receipts for proof of payment.
"Most of these sub contractors are pretty cool if you can show, 'Yes I did pay and here's where your money is. I gave it to this guy, please go pursue him,'" said Berken.
He said customers can pay the supplier directly but often times the contractor won't release that information.
