Roofing Fraud Lawsuit

 In Goshen, Indiana a judge sided with a couple in their roofing scam lawsuit. They were awarded more than $255,000 damages after the contractor they sued never responded to their accusations. 

They are only one couple out of hundreds of other victims who were also deceived after a hail storm last year. Out of 600 contracts signed, less than 40 homes were repaired. 

The Lawsuit

The suit was brought against Adam Greer of Valparaiso and his two Illinois based companies. One a public adjusting firm, Exact Loss Consulting Inc. The other a home repair firm, Storm Solution Pros Inc. The accusations were fraud, constructive fraud, home improvement fraud, breach of contract, and violating Indiana’s consumer sales and home improvement contracts. 

After a hail storm in June of 2019, Exact Loss went door to door to sign public adjusters contractors for services like helping with insurance claim adjustments and settlements. The contracts read in the fine print that homeowners would give insurance checks to Exact Loss, and they would collect one-third of the net settlement as their fee. But the fee would be waived if their sister company, Storm Solution, was hired for repair work. 

The Legality of It All

But this loophole is illegal in Indiana since Exact Loss was acting as a public adjuster, violated a state law that prohibits property improvement supplies from also serving as public adjusters. Another count accuses the Exact Loss agent that worked with the plaintiff wasn’t a licensed public adjuster, which also voids the contract. 

This is where UPPA laws also come into play too. We believe UPPA should be better defined and nothing should infringe on a policyholder’s right to hire a contractor to repair the property. Especially in a case like this where people were unlicensed and the companies committed fraud. 

The lawsuit alleges that Storm Solutions wouldn’t be able to perform all the repairs during the contracts that were signed. The suit also explained both companies waited out their clients’ patience with delays. This would cause homeowners to seek new contracts and sacrifice Exact Loss’ fee. 

As the lawsuit states, “Defendants counted on many exasperated homeowners simply giving up after long delays, buying out their contracts by authorizing Exact Loss to take its 33 percent cut from the settlement proceeds, and finding another contractor to make the repairs, at a loss to the homeowner.”

The plaintiffs, the Stewarts signed a $81,054 check to Exact Loss and more than nine months passed without any repairs being performed. “The Stewarts are left with a damaged roof and no insurance proceeds with which to fix it,” the lawsuit states.

The Result

The companies did not respond to the allegations which means they comply with Indiana trial rules or raise a defense. Exact Loss also didn’t respond to copies of the lawsuit when they were sent in March, three weeks before the lawsuit was filed. 

Since there was no action on the lawsuit, the judge ruled in the plaintiff’s favor. He awarded them with $255, 723. This is the total of the damages the suit was seeking and additional attorney fees. 

While it’s great the attorney fees were included in the amount awarded, most of the time it’s not. In most states, the laws require the policyholder to pay for their own experts and attorney’s fees even when the carrier is at fault. That’s why we’re working on drafting legislation that will change this.  

American Adjuster Association was formed to not only shed light on the issues policyholders face in the claims process but also to advocate for a fair and balanced claims system.  To get involved, learn about becoming a member and follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn for news and updates.