Because It's Friday
5 hours ago
Monday, June 24, 2013
Emergency Roof Repair
I just spent two days helping a friend with emergency repairs on his garage. The emergency was not caused by storm damage or any act of God. This one was caused by the abrasive action of a mortgage company rubbing against an insurance company.
My buddy is starting a new job soon, but right now funds are tight. He told his mortgage company he'd be a month late with the payment.
His reward for being up front with them? They sent an inspector to his property to see if it was occupied. ($30 fee for that) The inspector noticed the garage roof was in rough shape. The mortgage company notified the insurance company. The insurance company threatened to cancel the house insurance if the garage wasn't repaired. No insurance, no mortgage, no house.
Here's the thing. My friend knew his garage is in bad shape. It's bad enough that it would cost more to fix it than to build a new one. He plans on tearing it down in a year or two. In the mean time, it's full of stuff that will take time to find new homes for. A lot of it is stuff his wife's kids have placed there until they could settle in at new places of their own.
My buddy, myself, and another friend gathered together a pile of materials we and other people had donated. Then we tried to get the most visual impact from our limited materials. The whole roof is well past it's due date. Even the plywood under the shingles is too weak to walk on. We reinforced a couple roof beams and replaced some plywood before anyone could go up on the roof -one guy, and only in the repaired area.
In the end, we patched the worse area where a neighbor's tree had fallen on the roof. Most of the eave boards on one side was replaced. It looks much better than it did, but we hope the inspector doesn't get too fussy.
Now if the guy had a paid off house, there would not have been a nasty mortgage company to deal with and he could have told the insurance company to bug off. Of course, few people, including me, have paid off houses. The system can jerk us around -another penalty for being in the working class.
-Sixbears
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Damn mortgage company!!!
ReplyDeleteI have no mortgage, But I have no insurance either. The agent was in shock when I cancelled. He just really couldn't believe that I couldn't just pull an extra $100 a month out thin air.
ReplyDeleteI know, right? At least no one's coming to take your house away. Keep those smoke detectors and fire extinguishers up to date!
DeleteThat was really nice of you and your friends to help out a neighbor in need. That's the way life should be.
ReplyDeleteNobody can do it alone.
DeleteThis mortgage/insurance roof scam happens here everyday. The roofers love it. Insurance is hard to purchase here in Florida due to storm related damage and insurance companies will find ways to back out at the drop of a dime.
ReplyDeleteHad not heard of it before up here. It is a scam. My dad dropped insurance on his place in FL for a number of years until the prices came down.
DeleteSimilar thing happened to a pal of mine... the insurance company said that unless the eaves and fascia boards were painted they would cancel the policy... this in the Pacific Northwest, in the autumn, the start of the rainy season! Hence a big work party, and the eaves and fascia got painted, (partially while it was raining) and a bunch of pictures were taken, since there was no time for the paint to dry and cure before it started washing away, but by golly, it all got painted!
ReplyDeleteHe's lucky his friends pulled together for him.
DeleteI told my buddy that he didn't need roofers, he needed a Photoshop expert.
That kind of strong-arm maneuver is what I expect from the mortgage company. But unfortunately, it’s not illegal. It was nice that you guys were able to repair it in short order so he can pass the insurance inspection.
ReplyDeleteLino @ Arrys Roofing
I hope he passes. The laws were not made for the little people. Life in a corporate state.
Delete