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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alias has owned his home in Sunrise since 1996.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alias Panangayil: “When I bought this house, there was no houses around. It’s all empty, and I’m the first owner.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But recently, he started to notice some problems with his roof.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alias Panangayil: “Last year, I saw some leaks, and then I’m planning for replacing the roof in the near future.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alias’ Ring camera caught him and Tommy walking around the house, talking about the work that needed to be done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alias Panangayil: “I said, ‘OK.’ Finally, I agreed, $5,100.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.'”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Come Sunday afternoon, no one showed up. Alias called Tommy for days, but no one returned his call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The work was never done. At that point, he called Gravity Roofing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Taz Crumpler owns Gravity Roofing, which is based in Orlando. He started getting calls from South Florida homeowners in June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He then got his lawyers involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Taz is frustrated because those complaints are not about him or his company’s work and are hurting his business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alias Panangayil: “When I talked to the police department, they said, ‘You have to file in the court.’ That’s what they told me.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Taz says, while his company has not lost money because of the South Florida scam, he has lost peace of mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heather Walker, 7News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
CONTACT 7 INVESTIGATES:<\/strong>
305-627-CLUE
954-921-CLUE
7Investigates@wsvn.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"