Filing Appeal This Month.........

Got a call from the lawyer's office yesterday. They received a letter from the HOA's attorney asking for payment of their judgement which was recently finalized (trial was last November). We're going to appeal.......naturally, and see what happens. I have to think this case might set some serious precedent with our trade and insurance coverage regarding acts of God. If an HOA (or any other plantiff) can sue (and "win") despite all the proper inspections, warranty, etc. being in place, we're all in trouble. I'll keep everyone posted.

JET

Here's one for ya.....It's been 10+ years ago.... Keep in mind this is the one and only time, in the last 27 years in business, I've ever had do deal with my GL ins. company on anything like this.... Here goes; It was a simple, small, commercial re-roof that turned a bit complicated due to unforseen substate issues....be that as it may; The crew got caught in a spring snowstorm. It leaked....Offices on the second floor, and a music supply store below..... The music store owner was undwerstanding. The other people were of the wicked/opportunistic type....No need to explain.....

Here's the unbelievable part, (since, I've learned not to believe a word the ins. agent tells me; I thoroughly read-over and understand any and all GL policies whenever they're renewed)....Our ins. policy did not cover us while we were on the job...it only covered jobs completed!....WTF?....We fought with them, (our ins. co.), and ended up "settling".....The upper-level so-and-so's got all new office equipment, computers/the works, (even though they didn't need it)....This, after paying out hundreds of thousands of dollars to ins. co.s over the years! I wanted to strangle my ins. agent, whom I've a had a long relationship with over the previous years....

JSC Said: Yep, there is absolutely no predicting what results you might get from engaging the legal system, and that is a friggin shame. Except that you can bet your life it is going to cost a gagging amount of money.

I dont quite get where you are with this JET, financially. Did you not have insurance to pick up the legal tab, or are you going the high road out of your own pocket rather than take the settlement that your insurance surely would have made?

The suit wasn't filed until a year later. We knew absolutely nothing about any problems until six months after the repairs. When we kept going back and not finding anything that was our fault we asked to meet with the HOA board on the roof to show them the true cause of their "leaks" which was drain back-ups on the six HVAC units. A meeting was set by their attorney but the day of the meeting no one showed except us. We knew then what their angle was. I contacted my insurance agent when we received the first lawyer letter. The first thing she asked was if this roof was done during the three hurricanes that hit central FL in 2004. When I confirmed that she said we didn't have coverage for "Acts of God" causes so I just decided to carry on alone. In this state just getting liability coverage is like finding gold so I really didn't want to risk losing coverage AND have them (my carrier) pay off these HOA criminals. It's just a matter of ethics with me, not dollars, although that is how we keep score ;) ;) As I said earlier, this could set a chilling precedent for our industry. Not only could customers come back on us after a storm but also their insurance carriers, etc.

JET

My attorney is also a state representative so I'm hoping we can prevail the next time around with another judge, jury and venue. We were doomed from the start and knew it when the judge didn't back up the court ordered inspection by our expert prior to letting the HOA install the new roof (five years later). Yes, they used our roof for five years and then suddenly decided to destroy the evidence just before trial. My expert never got a chance to see anything although we learned later from witnesses that the roof in fact was not leaking and the deck was completely dry. It was the HVAC units (and defective skylights that they wouldn't let us replace) all along.

Roofguy Said:

JSC Said:

Roofguy Said: Its in all our interest that JET does prevail. What do you think about anyone who wants to help defray JETs legal cost, send him $100 toward that?

I doubt that would help him much, if he even would accept it. I have a feeling JET aint poor.

But Im there if he needs it.

Trials can make ya poor. :)

Even if he doesnt need it I think its a good idea to establish a fund to defend roofers against this kind of thing. Too many times Ive watched the big guy walk over the little guy, and the only reason he could is because his pockets were deep enough to keep reentering battle until the little guy was broke.

Yep, that's the dirty little truth of the legal racket. Victory by wallet too often. Better have a few million in that fund, and pick yer battles wisely.

Roofguy Said: Its in all our interest that JET does prevail. What do you think about anyone who wants to help defray JETs legal cost, send him $100 toward that?

I doubt that would help him much, if he even would accept it. I have a feeling JET ain't poor.

But I'm there if he needs it.

Yep, there is absolutely no predicting what results you might get from engaging the legal system, and that is a friggin shame. Except that you can bet your life it is going to cost a gagging amount of money.

I don't quite get where you are with this JET, financially. Did you not have insurance to pick up the legal tab, or are you going the high road out of your own pocket rather than take the settlement that your insurance surely would have made?

I sincerely hope you and our industry prevail.