fraudulent or non-honoring of warranty by contractor?

I'm the newly elected president of an HOA in Los Angeles, we are self-managed. In 2011 we paid a contractor close to $70k to resurface a rooftop deck with a special type of waterproof surfacing (Mer-Ko, I believe). It took almost a year to be able to use the deck again, in part because the company wouldn't come out and give final approval for the 10 year warranty (assuming certain maintenance conditions are met) and we were told no one could use the roof until we got that approval so we could get this warranty.

We got the "warranty", and then the company stopped taking the previous presidents calls. Other than the initial call back from the receptionist, once they found out the HOA I was with, they do not take my calls either. The previous president has not given me copies of correspondence, but I did get an email copy of the one page "warranty", which is a blurry copy of blurry copy of a blurry copy (I don't know what the original looks like). It has no place for a signature, or anywhere on it is the name of the contractor who did the work. I called the blurry number in the corner of the contract, which is the name of the company that provides the decking surface. I sent them a copy of the form, and she said the warranty number is not anything they use, AND this is only the first page of their form, the second has a signature and other details of the project. She said she thought someone was using their forms to issue warranties, and she wants me to give her their info so they can reach out to them to stop that.

So, it sounds to me like we were given a fraudulent warranty. And if not, they certainly aren't honoring the warranty since they won't return phone calls. We have since had to pay several thousand dollars to another vendor to fix problems in the roofing. Some caused by natural shifting of the roof, some caused by poor workmanship.

I know we could sue the company, but I was wondering if anyone else has ever dealt with this type of thing and has any addition suggestions.

-EM

here is what happened:

+ y'all know nothing 'bout roofing nor decks (no need to)

+ y'all did NOT take the necessary steps to become knowledgeable re: what you need

+ y'all got 3 or more PROPOSALS including prices (a good step)

+ y'all (here is where you went astray) accepted the lowest PROPOSAL

you SHOULD have read the PROPOSALS (which were for DIFFERENT 'fixes') and decided HOW you wanted the work done, or WHAT work needed to be done

THEN

Y'ALL draw up a 'scope of work' (or select a proposal) and get BIDS on the SAME 'specs' from multiple contractors/vendors

THEN

you check out your selection for:
license
insurance
performance bond
WARRANTY

? a whole heap of work ?

you betcha ~ don't do the work -> pay the price

CAVEAT EMPTOR

First step would be to identify the type of roof and contact the maker directly with your warranty problem. If that doesn't solve the problem then you can complain to the BBB or hire an attorney.

These are not mutually exclusive. You can (and should) do all three.

Keep in mind that the BBB has no teeth and will only help prevent future losses by others.

If the roofer had a state contractor's license, he may have been required to post a bond that can be used to pay for some of the damage. You will need legal advice as to whether you must wait for the conclusion of the agency's actions before you can file suit. (Arizona case law says your lawsuit is not dependent on the outcome of the agency's actions.)

The suggestion to contact the Attorney General may help run the contractor out of business but is not likely to result in a fix to your roof.

The fact they are a large and established company might be in your favor.
Rather thna a fly by night our of business the next day wonder that you could never find.

Perhaps you should take a ride to their offices and speak to someone face to face before you make contact with any other agency. Give them the opportunity to do the right thing and if not then call who you have to.

We just had a compnay on the property who did work for us 2 years ago.
I just spent 10 hours with them on the property addressing what we thought was another NEW issue. When we got to the botom of it all it was work they had done previously that had failed. I spoke with the MC who spoke with the project manager who offered nothing but excuses and unacceptable explanations. The the MC contacted the owner directly. After listening to what had taken place the owner offered to do the right thing and charge us nothing. My guess about a $12,000 cost to him.
Perhaps you just need to find the right pair of ears.

Good luck and my advice try to do this the easy way first and give them a chance to address the matter. No doubt in my mind if this ends up anywhere else you're having done this first will serve you well in the end in the eyes of lets say a judge. "Did you give thme a chance to make it right?" And your answer should be YES WE DID.

Good luck.

DITTO JonD1

i was agressive with my answer because it is very easy for every board to ALWAYS say:
'i don't know how it happened ~ the previous BOD done it'

if you have the proper bidding / procurement system in place then this type of issue becomes very very rare ~ proper procurement pratice also includes 'project management' either in house or by outside paid consultants

cheaper than attorneys and rework