A google search for the largest residential roofing company in America resulted in Petersen Dean being listed as the second largest. The only problem with this result is the company went bankrupt in 2020. This roofing company had been around since the 80s and homeowners had their projects scheduled after placing deposits down for their new roof.Read a few of their stories below:
“In January of 2020 we contracted with Petersen Dean to do a reroof for us which they did the week of February 3 2020. We financed the job thru Greensky which paid Petersen Dean IN FULL in two payments on 2/5 and 2/13/2020. On April 2, 2020 we received a preliminary notice of a lien from the sub contractor Honeycutt Companies who did the demo for $2,600. As of August 4 2020 Petersen Dean has still not paid them and Honeycutt is now informing us they intend to file a lien on our property for payment. I have contacted Petersen Dean back in April and have never received a response from them. Now they do not even answer the phone and I understand that they are in bankruptcy.”“After selecting Petersen-Dean to install our solar system in late 2019, and 2 weeks away from starting the installation everything stopped. We paid in advance over 85% of the total contract and it is now over 15 months with no idea if we will ever recover our money or get solar panels installed.”
You need to know that when a company goes bankrupt, “the bankrupt company’s outstanding debt is prioritized, with preferred creditors and secured debts paid first.”Nasdaq says, “is it even worth filing a claim, given that a bankrupt company probably wouldn't be going bankrupt if it could pay all of those costs in the first place? Penn says it's probably best only for the eternal optimist. "Never say never, but don't go out and spend the money and assume that it's coming," he says.”
Ask your roofing company if they require deposits
Cenvar Roofing and a few other roofing companies don’t require deposits. This protects the homeowner in scenarios like the above.The homeowner already has the product (in our case the roof) and then will pay for it. There are many horror stories of customers on the bad end of a bad decision made by the company they hired.Check out a few blog posts that might be helpful when looking for a reputable roofing company:
- Choosing a roofer isn't like choosing a restaurant
- I can't get a roofing contractor to keep their word
- How to find a great roofing contractor
This story is taken from HGTV.This one customer had a concrete driveway installed, which cracked a few months later. After some time, the contractor stopped calling the customer back resulting in the customer wondering if there was a way to make the contractor fix the issue. HGTV responded by saying “There's no way of "making" the contractor return, even if you have a binding contract. It would take a court order or a lawsuit, which is too expensive and time-consuming. If you're not getting through on the phone, try using a friend's phone to contact the contractor. With caller ID, he may not be answering your calls.”Check out a local Virginia story of a solar company that changed its name to get away from a negative brand reputation and then ended up going bankrupt.
