I think that my parents were victims of contractor fraud?

[Anonymous]

they contacted this roofer in the spring to do the roof on a second house they own ( was originally owned by grandparents )

they paid a deposit ( a large % of actual cost of the job ) in May and were told materials would be purchased with the deposit and that job would start and be finished in May

well its now almost September and roof has yet to be even started and not 1 single piece of material has ever been delivered to that address

from what i know they found this roofer online and i checked his online views and there actually all really positive , only red flag to me was the most recent reviews were from 5 months ago , meaning he hasn't been active this year despite claiming to be and taking money / orders

they contacted him this week and get told same story every time , that he's going to get on it soon etc yet no evidence of that and no materials ever brought to that house yet despite paying a deposit for them

Updates

1 y

still no sign of this roofer , they've got new messages from him saying he's coming. he claims to be busy with other jobs but his google views have no reviews from anyone more recent than 6 months ago. other than 1 new review which appeared today , " They came and solved my issue promptly and professionally! Highly highly recommend!!!" which oddly claims he came quickly? so perhaps he's back in business? but its like October here and time running out to do a roof before winter

[jennifer_bloom]

Contractor fraud is common. The way to prevent it is to pay through credit card or digital technology so that your payment can be traced. The way to catch a liar when you do not have evidence is to get them to speak as much as possible and then look for contradictions in their story. Another method is to get a fake customer to bait them into disclosing their operative works so you can disclose they lied to you about there operations or demanding evidence of credentials so you can claim they were hired based on fraudulent representations of their work history and professional power to do the assigned task they charged you for. If you can prove they cannot do the job they charged you for, you can prove they did not do the job they said they would, especially if you have evidence the work was never commissioned by them for somebody else to do the job in their place through photographic evidence with time stamps on it.

[Asker]

its weird cause this guy definitely had a normal and successful roofing company last year from what i read online. but a red flag to me no customers have left reviews in 5 months as typically roofers would be busy during summer and doing new jobs.

we also have a law here that says if a contractor doesn't start a job after 30 days of signing contract the customer can cancel it

so they can cancel the contract and ask for money back , where ever it is now? i believe they would of paid by cheque so there is banking records of him cashing the cheque into his account

[Anonymous]

It's very common in construction to have delays and no-shows but still not be fraud, it's just how they roll. They tend to focus their attention on larger, better-paying jobs such as new construction, which they prioritize over your smaller job. It's always good to hire a general contractor first to oversee the subs actually doing the work and keep them on schedule.

You might want to get a contractor now to get these guys going, or report them to the State Attorney which will get them moving, or get your money back to so you can start over. If you parents are over age 60 you might also be able to report the roofers to Adult Protective Services for elder abuse and then they're really in for some serious trouble.

And you can also hire a private construction attorney to clean up the whole mess and get you some money. He might take his fee on contingency.

This is likely to get ugly before it gets better, so get some help on your side.

[Asker]

i agree delays are rather common which is why it perhaps wasn't a red flag that job didn't actually start in May but its almost September and we get harsh winters here and they won't be able to do roof by Dec> March as its too cold and snow covered

in his last phone call with them he claimed to still be doing roofs and plans to do these jobs before end of season but i'm very skeptical

[Asker]

he also told them back in May he needed deposit rate away so he could buy materials that were suppose to be purchased as soon as deposit was cashed but they were never delivered.

if he had told them sorry i'm busy i'll get back to you in a couple months that wouldn't of been odd , whats odd is he told them he needed money rate away to buy the materials yet is now too busy and unclear if he even bought the materials

and if he didn't buy any materials? what did he do with the deposit? that has already been cashed and in his bank account

[Agape93]

Yeap absolutely. Press charges.

[Asker]

appears to be a process before such can occur. they have the legal option of cancelling the contract after 30 days without any evidence of work being done and could ask for deposit back. is a law here that if contractor hasn't started job after 30 days the customer can cancel it.

the 30 days have obviously already passed by this point so they have that option , they can also file a complaint with a business ombudsman type thing. which would look into things further

i'm not sure police would lay charges yet its possible they would if they try and cancel contract and he refuses to give money back or is unable to explain what he spent it on as obviously no materials ever appeared at that house