(WSVN) – Some homeowners thought they were hiring a reputable company to fix their roofs, but the owner of that company tells 7 Investigates it wasn’t him, and he’s filed a complaint with the state. 7’s Heather Walker has the story.
Alias has owned his home in Sunrise since 1996.
Alias Panangayil: “When I bought this house, there was no houses around. It’s all empty, and I’m the first owner.”
But recently, he started to notice some problems with his roof.
Alias Panangayil: “Last year, I saw some leaks, and then I’m planning for replacing the roof in the near future.”
When this fax, advertising a flat roof specialist, came into his office, he thought he had found a solution. He called the business, talked to a man who said his name was Tommy and that he worked for Gravity Roofing.
Alias Panangayil: “When I met him, he looked like he was a professional person, because he was wearing the name of Gravity Roofing, blue T-shirt, and his two employees who is working with him, they are also wearing the Gravity Roofing’s T-shirts. So it looks professional, you know, appearance. So we believe that it’s real Gravity Roofing staffing.”
Alias’ Ring camera caught him and Tommy walking around the house, talking about the work that needed to be done.
Alias Panangayil: “I said, ‘OK.’ Finally, I agreed, $5,100.”
Alias says Tommy asked him to Zelle part of the money. The rest he wanted in cash so his guys could buy supplies and start working the next day.
Alias Panangayil: “I said, ‘I have to go to Sunday morning, the church, so I will be available after 2 o’clock or something.’ ‘Oh, no problem, 3 o’clock, I will come because I also go to church.’”
Come Sunday afternoon, no one showed up. Alias called Tommy for days, but no one returned his call.
The work was never done. At that point, he called Gravity Roofing.
Taz Crumpler: “Someone has been impersonating our company, Gravity Roofing, using our license number, our business identity, to scam homeowners across South Florida, especially targeting the elderly.”
Taz Crumpler owns Gravity Roofing, which is based in Orlando. He started getting calls from South Florida homeowners in June.
Taz Crumpler: “So, within the last 30 days alone, we have received calls from six different families in which most were scammed out of thousands of dollars.”
Crumpler immediately filed the complaint with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. He claims some of the homeowners “found Tommy” through “Angi and HomeAdvisor.”
He then got his lawyers involved.
Taz Crumpler: “We’ve sent cease and desist letters. Even like Angi and HomeAdvisor, like they haven’t even deactivated this person’s account, even though we’ve made them well aware.”
After a month of back and forth, both Angi and HomeAdvisor put disclaimers on the Gravity Roofing profile page. Angi says, “This pro is under review.” HomeAdvisor says there are “unresolved complaints.”
Taz is frustrated because those complaints are not about him or his company’s work and are hurting his business.
Taz Crumpler: “It’s also exposing dangerous gaps in the verification process of major platforms and also has embarrassingly revealed the lack of urgency from state regulators, like the [Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation], local police departments.”
Alias Panangayil: “When I talked to the police department, they said, ‘You have to file in the court.’ That’s what they told me.”
Taz says, while his company has not lost money because of the South Florida scam, he has lost peace of mind.
Taz Crumpler: “I haven’t been able to sleep knowing that there’s someone out there taking advantage of vulnerable people, using my name to do it.”
He hopes this warning, and showing these pictures and videos, will get “Tommy” caught before someone else is caught up in his web of lies.
Heather Walker, 7News.
CONTACT 7 INVESTIGATES:
305-627-CLUE
954-921-CLUE
7Investigates@wsvn.com
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