Roofer draws complaints in Triad
American Shingle is accused of taking money without doing any work.
BY RICHARD M. BARRON ,Staff Writer

First, an act of God took the roofs off their houses. Then an act of man took money out of their hands.

And in the end, hundreds of homeowners lost thousands of dollars, still have bad roofs and wonder if they’ll ever get their money back from American Shingle.

More than 300 people across the state have filed complaints with the N.C. Attorney General’s Office, saying American Shingle did not do work that the homeowners paid for in advance. Eight of those complaints are in Greensboro, said Noelle Talley, the N.C. Department of Justice’s public information officer.

The attorney general issued a cease and desist order on Aug. 27. Meanwhile, American Shingle has declared bankruptcy, which will make it difficult for homeowners to get back their money.

“We understand that the company is out of business, and we’re investigating based on the complaints we’ve received,” Talley wrote in an e-mail. “Our office is also cooperating with ongoing state and federal investigations in the company’s home state of Georgia.”

A Greensboro company is helping out, but it is unlikely homeowners will get back the money that they paid American Shingle in good faith.

Strong storms beginning in spring 2009 swept through the state, bringing wind, hail and snow that damaged many roofs.

American Shingle representatives set up dozens of offices across the state, including Greensboro, and began going door-to-door offering inspections.

“They come by here,” said Mildred Carter, 69, of Reidsville. “Our roof was in pretty bad shape — you could see it pretty good — they said they would do it if we wanted them.”

American Shingle typically urged people to contact their insurance carrier, which would issue a damage check that the homeowner could use to hire any contractor.

Carter and her husband, Lin-wood, 75, hired American Shingle with the $2,800 check from Farm Bureau insurance. And they never saw anybody from the company again.

“They were supposed to come the 26th of August,” Mildred Carter said. “They didn’t show up. They didn’t call. We haven’t heard anything from them. We got suspicious about it. When we did get in touch with Farm Bureau who wrote our check, they said there was not anything they can do.”

The roof is still damaged and the retired couple, living on a fixed income, can’t replace the money they lost for a new roof.

The Better Business Bureau was suspicious of American Shingle from the start, said Kevin Hinterberger, the president and CEO of the BBB of Central North Carolina.

Soliciting business door-to-door, hiring a variety of subcontractors and other signs kept him from offering accreditation, which is the BBB’s seal of approval.

“In every instance of folks that I spoke to, yes, they did require down payment,” Hinterberger said. “If there’s a reputable roofer that’s been in my market for any length of time, chances are they’re not going to require a down payment.”

Hinterberger told a company representative that after checking around, he wouldn’t support the company until it proved it could back up its business practices in this area.

“In checking the ratings that other BBBs have on American Shingle, they ran the gamut from an F to an A,” Hinterberger said. “We explained to (the representative) there was unanswered complaints in other markets and stuff that we weren’t comfortable with.”

Calls to the company’s Atlanta headquarters reached a recording saying “all circuits are busy.”

The Charlotte Observer reported on Sept. 4 that the company’s CEO told a radio station that the company had sold 3,500 roofing contracts for uncompleted work.

Alert Construction, Remodeling & Repair of Greensboro wants to do something to help out victims of the bankruptcy. The company has offered to finish roofing jobs with special deals on shingles and breakeven labor costs.

“We’ve ... worked with the manufacturers to actually reduce the price of the shingles for us,” said Ed Regensburg, the company’s owner. “We’re doing it for our bare cost.”

Of course, that still won’t replace the insurance money that people have lost, he said.

“On an $8,000 roof, we may do it for $6,200,” Regensburg said. “Unfortunately, they’ve been taken for that $3,400 (in insurance money). Unfortunately, they do need a roof.”