Texas rooftops take a beating from Mother Nature.
Texans suffer tremendous roof-related losses because of the state’s severe weather, including hail, tornadoes and hurricanes.
But when it comes time to get that damage fixed, Texas consumers and roofers are extremely vulnerable to bad actors in the roofing business. Texas does not require roofers to be licensed, nor does it have laws to specifically address roofer abuses.
In recent years, roof-damaging weather in Texas has been rapidly followed by an influx of contractors, including roofers, from outside of the state.
Without required registration or licensure, roofers are not even required to have a legitimate address or other contact information. This makes it difficult for a consumer to seek recourse in the event of dishonest practices or shoddy work.
Some of these fly-by-night contractors have subjected consumers to damaging practices ranging from dishonest business dealings and strong-arm tactics to out-and-out fraud.
Problems with fraudulent roofers have included:
- Requiring consumers to pay for services up front, which then are not delivered.
- Deliberately causing damage to structures to attempt to gain authorization for service.
- Offering to pay or paying all or a portion of an insurance deductible. As the Texas Department of Insurance warns, the contractor could be submitting false information to your insurance company about the cost of the repairs, which is insurance fraud.
- Acting as claims adjusters without proper credentials.
- Padding bills or skimping on work.
- These unethical and malicious practices hurt consumers, take business from reputable roofers, and increase insurance claims costs and rates.
Texas should follow the actions of other states and adopt good sense requirements that protect reputable roofers and give consumers and authorities the basic tools to either exclude or track down fraudulent roofers.