Texas roofer arrested in Florida for helping hurricane victims fix their homes
Terence Duque was arrested for 'conducting business in Charlotte County without a Florida license.' If charged as a felony, that's an offense that could carry up to five years in prison under Florida law
As someone who has been through many hurricanes, and lives in an area always under hurricane threat, we call these fly-by-nights. They come into the community, they take people's money, do a horrible job, and disappear. Then you're left with a fucked up roof that your insurance paid for and your stuck paying out of pocket for an actual real local company to come fix it right. These people prey on the desperate, and end up fucking over everyone they "helped". When you need to find them again, their name doesn't exist, their number is disconnected. Good for Fl for protecting it's people from these scammers.
Damn... my first reaction was why arresting for something like that when the need is there. I wasn't thinking of potential scam artists.
What do you propose would be a solution to mitigate the scammers while addressing the need for the work needed done (well)?
They would have to coordinate through state gov, not just show up claiming to be a professional. These people have done more harm than good to hurricane devastated communities over the years.
"Roofer"
Yeah right. These guys come in to cash in with shit jobs. Thank God they are arresting these fuckers.
Their are not enough roofers in the state to do the jobs,they need help just like the linemen do......
States need to have reciprocity with other states to temporarily recognize their licenses or some other provisions,not all of these guys are scaming people.
They just want to work like anyone else. If you wait for a local roofer,your house can be totally destroyed,in the mean time.
And some are scams as well.
Any of these out of state roofers can easily apply for and get a reciprocal Florida license to do roofing contracting work. If they do it without it, then it's their fault and theirs alone for not spending a few minutes applying for and getting the license. Whether their intent is pure or not. I say good that they are arresting these people.
I have no idea what the laws are in Florida, we get a lot of hail here in oklahoma,and we couldn't fix all the roofs without out of state help. Some of these states make it very hard for out of state roofers to get a license, they are protecting the jobs of locals and screwing over the home owners.
It's not all cut and dried,each state and situation is different. But you can't assume all out of state roofers are shady........
30 years ago it was almost impossible for a out of state roofer to get a license in,Colorado, they had to have worked in the state for 6 or 12 months first.
But because of the vast amounts of shady "roofers" that come in and screw over thousands of people, this has to be regulated. That's the way it goes. A professional roofer can go through the right channels to offer help in the aftermath of a hurricane. Has nothing to do with protecting local jobs, it's to protect the community and the homes. Trust me, this isn't their first hurricane, the gulf states have to deal with this shit every year.
We get hail storm here in oklahoma every year as well.
Their will be many millions of dollers of rain damage in the future,because their was no one avalible to do temp repairs. Homes will we destroyed cause no one can put up 50 dollers worth of shingles.......
I was a roofer back in the 80's and we wouldn't even answer the phone at a time like this.
Duque has run a successful Texas-based commercial and residential roofing business since 2008. He's got an A-plus rating from the Better Business Bureau and has been named a "preferred contractor" by national roofing supply company Owens Corning. And in the wake of Ian, there's an obvious need for roofers and other contractors in Florida, as cleaning up and repairing the storm's damage will take months, if not years. Duque thought he could help by offering his services to homeowners with damaged roofs in Charlotte County, near where the brunt of the storm hit.
If he's a legit contractor, then why not do things by the book?
No, he thought he could sweep in and make a ton of money off desperate people. A professional knows how to go about this properly. He avoided contacting the gov first because he probably wanted to burn through as many jobs as possible and avoid the consequences of doing poor quality.
Ok DeSavage waiting for you to come out and say Scammers will be shot!
The laws are created to prevent unscrupulous people from victimizing other people. If this guy was running a fraud scheme, this arrest will stand as an example, if he was simply a good samaritan that provided quality services, he should be found not guilty. This is why everyone gets a trial to be judged by a jury of their peers and an impartial judge. At least, this is the theory behind our judicial system. Everyone here knows this is not always the case, however after reading the article, this guy runs a successful and reputable roofing business in Texas with an A rating from BBB and no complaints by his customers triggered this arrest. I can see where the motive for this guy may have been to assist in the aftermath of a devastating hurricane, just like all the linemen from around the country do, or firefighters coming from surrounding States to fight forest fires. Obviously, these guys are paid by Federal and State emergency funds, but the roofer was being paid by individual homeowners and their insurance. He will get his chance to plead his case in court and I certainly hope he is found not guilty, if he is innocent of malicious intent. This is an excellent example of how we have been brainwashed by unscrupulous politicians and lawyers to ignore the spirit of laws and only to take into account the letter of the law. He violated the letter of the law, but not the spirit of the law. This should not result in punishment and anyone that does not grasp this is most certainly brainwashed into believing that laws are separate from moral Right and Wrong.
And just because it's a "law" doesn't mean it abides by the Constitution.
All laws that are contrary to the Constitution and Bill of Rights are automatically null and void. You should not even have to go to court to fight it. This little secret is hidden and they expect us to litigate against an unlawful law. There should never be a need to litigate against the government or any other agency when their laws or rules violate our God given Rights.
Let Florida take care of their own problems. They should arrest people who sell things to Florida residents online without a Florida business license.
Bill(sheriff)needs to be removed from office. It's time for Florida residents to raise hell over this. I would never move to Florida too freaking expensive. This is just another reason.
Whatever would we do without government to arrest good people trying to help others after a catastrophe.