A New Twist on an Old Wrinkle

Started by CathyA3 • 5 replies • 186 views

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CathyA3 (Ohio)
Posts: 6,299

Posted:

So apparently this is a thing.

Some condo communities in my area have been approached by an out-of-state company who claim that they have surveyed the community's roofs with drones for hail damage and whatnot and that they can - through some special secret knowledge they have - can get the association's insurer to pay for new roofs. In exchange for a significant chunk of the insurance proceeds, of course. Oh, and the board can't disclose this to your community manager - mum's the word. Sign the contract here.

I'm sure all of you can see where this is going.

Red flag check:

* They come to you.
* They claim to have special expertise that no one else has (extraordinary claim #1)
* They can get the insurer to pay for something that may not be in the policy (extraordinary claim #2)
* They insist on secrecy.

I won't say this is a scam necessarily, but it's definitely shady and predatory. And they pick they're targets well. (Dissatisfied customers on the internet are not as diplomatic in their comments as I am.)

See, just 'cause we in the Great Frozen North don't have hurricanes doesn't mean we don't get to deal with carpetbagger roofers!

LetA (Nevada)
Posts: 2,679

Posted:

Is the person a certified public adjuster?
Yes it is laughable that people get these wild notions that they can intercede. Nine times out of ten, they are just unwanted
pest and should honestly mind their own business. I trust the Board Members along with the Property manager to do their jobs.
If need be they will consult with a certified public adjuster that they hire, not some random dope that knocks on their door
that has a drone.

LetA (Nevada)
Posts: 2,679

Posted:

I have to add to this too Cathy. On three separate occasions I was bothered by Solar sales person. The same individual
each time. At the both entrances to the community a sigh is clearly posted no trespassing and no soliciting. At my front door
there is a no soliciting sign clearly posted.

My wife and I are shift workers and value our sleep during the day. I already have solar on my roof. Even Stevie Wonder can clearly
see the PV panels on my rooftop and the solar converter mounted on the wall next to the service panel and meter.
The first two times I recited the NV 207.200 trespass citation to him. After the first time I called the company's corporate office
as well as the second time and politely asked them to inform their sales crew that they cannot solicit in our community. The third time, I
became Mr. Nasty, I got our security involved and called police. Each encounter I had before I had saved on my surveillance system.
The police arrested the guy for criminal trespass. There needs to be an end to the means.

LoriM15 (Florida)
Posts: 1,009

Posted:

Before it was outlawed recently because of so much insurance fraud, Florida used to allow assignment of benefits.

Roofing companies and public adjusters would approach an HOA and say that they could get them a new roof. All you had to do was sign over your rights to the benefits to the company. They would hire an attorney and would magically get you a new roof (actually you still have to pay your deductible).

Then you would wait and wait some more. Maybe two years later they would finally get a huge settlement from the insurance company(way more than the cost of a roof replacement on the open market). Then, because they already had your money, they would put you at the bottom of their list for the actual work, because they were out there hustling for more business. Maybe another year would go by before you finally got your roof.

And, by the way, they wanted you to pay your deductible up front before they purchased the materials for the roof.

Meanwhile, you would get dropped by your insurance company for that huge claim.

Our HOA fell for this (before I was on the board). We finally got our roof a few months ago - but we refused to pay the deductible until they were done.

We have two small guardhouses that didn't fall under the claim. We asked for a discount so they could do those with the leftover tile. We got a sob story about how much money they had spent on the attorney and all the time they had invested in our account so that we could get a "free" roof. I told the owner of the company that doing this was his business model, not my responsibility if he didn't make any money from it (he did).

Public adjusters and some roofers will still do this - take a percentage to represent you and get you a new roof.

This is why the insurance industry has collapsed and now I'm paying $9000 per year for my homeowner's insurance with no previous claims (that's not a typo).

CathyA3 (Ohio)
Posts: 6,299

Posted:

They claim that they use certified public adjusters and other professionals. But aside from that I don't know much. I wonder if that nice community in my area who just lost their insurance (for reasons unknown) fell for this nonsense.

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

I had one who stamped they were members of the BBB. I did a search. They are not on it. At least not paying member to have that credentials.

Always check the BBB and local license. Make sure if a permit has to pulled that know who does it. They are scammers and people fall for it a lot.

Former HOA President

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