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FORT WORTH The owners of a Fort Worth roofing company pleaded guilty Tuesday to bilking 27 Tarrant County residents — including a Fort Worth police officer — out of more than $100,000 for work that they never started! Theft charges are still pending against Raul Garcia in Dallas and Denton counties, where he is also accused bilking homeonwers for roofing work.
Roofing is still one of the few professions in which sales people still go door to door. Some roofing companies have sales people that go door to door every day. Added to this is the fact, the state of Texas does not require licensing for roofers. Rep. Kenneth Sheets is working on taking some positive steps in this direction. Nor is there a way to know how is the level of expertise of the roofer. Very few roofing companies are good in all types of roofing. In times of storm damage, a roofing company must not only be good in roofing but know how to deal with the insurance company and to submit things properly to them.
Rep. Kenneth Sheets is trying to take some positive steps. “You’re seeing Texas as a spot of opportunity for these guys,” Sheets said.
He’s proposing legislation to change that. His bill would allow roofers to voluntarily join a state registry.However, DFW Best Roofing wants to help not just create a registry but to verify a roofing company. “Unlike our neighbors in New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana that all require registration or licensing, Texas has no such requirements.” He says. That worries state Rep. Kenneth Sheets who says the Lone Star State is now a haven for the rip-off roofer.
“You’d be part of a statewide database that consumers can go look at so that when consumers are looking for a roofer there’s already a database that the state is maintaining for them,” Sheets said.
Consumers would know that registered roofers have insurance, contact information and an address. That’s important. Consumers need a physical address to be able to serve them with a lawsuit. Sheets says he constantly hears from consumers who pay roofers for work they don’t complete. Another common scenario occurs when the roofer does shoddy work and can’t be found to honor the promised warranty. When consumers try to take the roofer to small claims court, they can’t find them.
A Fort Worth Roofing Company DFW Best Roofing has started a petition on its website to help this process. They are looking for at least 100,000 signatures. Help DFW area rid of this problem of roofing scams, Click here to help Make Licensing Mandatory in Texas for Roofers
Release ID: 103882