Florida attorney general investigates roofing company after 100-plus complaints since Ian
www.nbc-2.com, Evan Dean, September 24, 2024
LEE COUNTY, Fla. —Lisa Cooper first contacted the NBC2 Investigators this summer after having problems with the company she hired to replace her roof, which was ruined by Hurricane Ian in 2022.
The ordeal had brought her to tears.
"Devastation,” she said, describing the situation. “I paid these people.”
Cooper had hired CMR Construction & Roofing, which is based in Texas but also working out of an office in Naples.
Cooper said the first problem was the delay in starting repairs after she gave CMR her insurance check. Once work finally did start, records show a Lee County inspector reported issues twice before passing the job on the third attempt, though Cooper still thought the work was sloppy.
Most frustrating of all was when she found out a lien was placed on her property. A supplier claimed they were never paid by a subcontractor working for CMR.
“I guess it's Florida law that if a supplier is not paid, regardless of whether you've paid the contractor, the lien can go on your property,” Cooper said. “I absolutely had no idea of that.”
The NBC2 Investigators discovered that the same supplier, ABC Supply Co. Inc., is suing CMR, alleging the company stopped making payments they’d agreed upon and that they owe more than $10 million in all.
Meanwhile, the Consumer Protection Division of the Florida attorney general’s office is investigating CMR Construction & Roofing after receiving more than 100 complaints since Hurricane Ian.
More than 200 more complaints have been reported to the Better Business Bureau in the past three years against CMR. The BBB has revoked the company’s accreditation.
“Accredited businesses are held accountable to standards. And if an accredited business is not meeting and maintaining standards, they lose their accreditation,” Bryan Oglesby, a spokesperson for the BBB, told NBC2.
The BBB has issued an alert on its website to warn customers about the company’s recent issues.
"When BBB sees a pattern of complaints and similar complaints happening on a company, we look at that, we take that seriously,” Oglesby said.
NBC2 reached out to CMR Construction and Roofing, which refused an on-camera interview and declined to comment on the ongoing lawsuit against them.
Instead, an attorney for the company issued a statement saying they were “not able to avoid unexpected issues” from the COVID-19 pandemic, partly blaming supply shortages for their problems.
The company also blamed insurance companies, saying they’ve “not only delayed the prompt payment of claims, undervalued claims and forced consumers to accept low settlement offers, but many have gone insolvent, which has caused a financial hardship on CMR.”
The company insists it has worked to fix the problems of customers who’ve complained, including Cooper.
After NBC2 first interviewed her, the lien on her property was removed. And after NBC2 reached out to CMR to share her concerns, the company eventually came back to her house to fix the lingering issues she had with the roof.
“I felt very vindicated. And I was glad that they came out and corrected the error,” Cooper said in a follow-up interview in September. “I think something had to do with you guys running the story and contacting them.”
“I just was upset, and I was frustrated,” she said. “Hopefully, CMR learns from this.”
Oglesby said a key takeaway in the wake of Ian is the importance of finding out how well a company is performing right now before hiring them.
“What we're seeing nowadays in general is, even companies that have good track records for many years, sometimes you have a scenario where they get overwhelmed,” he said.“Don't just look at customer reviews that were from a year ago or two years ago," Oglesby added. "Especially in a hurricane situation, ask them, ‘Who are customers you're dealing with currently? Can I have their number? Can I have a conversation?’"
News article: Florida attorney general investigates roofing company after 100-plus complaints since Ian (nbc-2.com)