Bill would strengthen roofing laws after scams

CHEYENNE -- A local woman who says she has been scammed by a roofing company is happy about a proposed bill that would strengthen the state's laws regarding roofers.

Following a number of dishonest incidents in the wake of last summer's hailstorms, state Rep. Pete Illoway, R-Cheyenne, is sponsoring the bill in the budget session, which begins today.

“It’s really a consumer protection bill," he said.

It would make a number of changes in state law aimed at protecting residents from illegitimate roofers.

Cheyenne’s Margaret Harer says the bill is a great idea.

She paid a company to repair her roof, but she got a notice that a lien had been put on her home. The notice orders her to pay for materials related to the work, but she says she already paid Advance Construction Inc. of Cheyenne for those costs.

Advance Construction has not returned her calls since she got the lien notice.

She says Advance apparently did not pay the materials supplier. Now she is being asked to pay Mead Building Centers of Cheyenne $2,554 or a lien will be put on her home.

She says she does not blame Mead Building Centers, just Advance.

The owner of Advance, Daryl Byerly, told the WTE that he does not know whether Harer’s contract included material costs, but it probably did.

Advance Construction was licensed by the city in August and remains licensed, according to the city Building Safety Office.

Harer is refusing to pay for the materials again and says she will fight the matter with a lawyer.

“I’m going for breach of contract against (Advance),” she says.

Her insurance covered the $6,541 payment she made to Advance but will not pay for the shingles again, meaning that cost would have to come out of her pocket.

“Where do they expect me to get $2,500?” she asked as she sat at her kitchen table with a stack of documents related to the roof work. “I don’t have the money to pay for the shingles again.”

She spoke to the attorney who sent her the lien notice, and he told her he had sent seven similar notices that day.

Lynn DeVilbiss with the city’s Building Safety Department said her office has gotten similar complaints recently.

She urged residents to make sure they have reputable roofers licensed by the city. This can be done by calling 637-6265.

But the city can’t do much in these types of situations, she added.

“We don’t have any way of making sure that roofers pay their bills,” she said.

DeVilbiss said residents also can report these complaints to the consumer affairs division of the Attorney General’s Office.

As of Thursday, the city had issued 4,744 roofing permits since the last hailstorm in July.

And two roofing companies n Aspen Contracting of Lee’s Summit, Mo., and Always Contracting of Windsor, Colo. n have had their licenses revoked.

City building official Bruce Wilson said the city’s Contractors Licensing Board cannot handle disputes over contracts and money. That board issues licenses based on a roofer’s qualifications and can take those licenses away for violations.

Therefore, issues that residents have with their roofers over contracts and money end up in civil court, DeVilbiss said.

What the bill would do

Under a bill sponsored by state Rep. Pete Illoway, R-Cheyenne, roofers would be subject to new rules. It would:

- Require roofers to disclose a contractor’s license or registration number.

- Require roofers to reveal if they are from out of state.

- Prohibit roofers from promising to pay for any portion of an insurance deductible.

- Make it illegal for roofers to represent a consumer in regards to insurance claims.

- Make it illegal for roofers to accept payment for letting another company use their name or license number.

- Require roofers to provide a precise description and location of the damage claimed in a proposal for services.

- Allow a client to cancel a contract within five business days.

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Bill would strengthen roofing laws after scams