A man says he was shocked to learn a roofing supply company had filed a lien on his house, all because the contractor he hired and paid to replace his roof never paid that company for the supplies they used. He was more shocked to learn it was completely legal.
DEL CITY, Okla. (KFOR) – A man says he was shocked to learn a roofing supply company had filed a lien on his house, all because the contractor he hired and paid to replace his roof never paid that company for the supplies they used. He was even more shocked to learn it was completely legal.
It didn’t take long for Paul Sapack to notice problems with the new roof he had installed on his home back in November.
“The first time it rained, it was leaking all over my living room,” Sapack said.
That wasn’t acceptable to him. After all, he and his insurance company paid Oklahoma City-based Rescom Roofing & Construction more than $15,000 for the job.
“They were supposed to replace a skylight, it had a hole in it from hail,” Sapack said. “But what they did is glue a shingle over it and never replaced the skylight.”
Sapack says he called Rescom about the problems numerous times, and they came out to his house a couple times.
But he says they never fixed the issues, and eventually stopped answering him.
“I sent text messages, a lot of phone calls,” Sapack said.
He figured that issue was the worst of his problems.
But then he checked his mail earlier this week.
“I got a notice from the Oklahoma County Clerk's office that the company that they purchased the supplies from put a lien on my home for almost $8,000,” Sapack said.
He showed News 4 the letter. It said an Oklahoma City-based company called SRS Building Products filed a lien against his home for $7,474.31, for materials Rescom installed on his roof.
He couldn’t believe it.
“I didn't buy any supplies,” he said. “I hired a contractor to do that. They didn't pay for what they owed. And they're going to put a lien on my house for that.”
News 4 called SRS.
Without speaking specifically about Sapack’s situation, the person who answered said when a contractor doesn’t pay SRS for materials on a project, they have to file a lien against whoever owns the property where the work was done, in order to legally recover the costs.
News 4 has covered issues similar to Sapack’s before.
Legal experts have told News 4, according to Oklahoma law, subcontractors are entitled to file a lien within 90 days of providing labor or materials on a home that they’re working on to protect the subcontractors from not getting paid by the contractor. If the subcontractor is not paid, they can foreclose on the home for up to a year.
Sapack is a veteran and used a VA loan to buy his house.
“[The VA] is not happy about any kind of marks on a loan that they’re guaranteeing,” he said. “So that’s another concern.”
News 4 wanted to ask Rescom why they apparently never paid SRS for the supplies they used, even though Sapack paid Rescom the money to do just that.
Rescom’s office was locked and empty when News 4 stopped by on Friday.
News 4 called both Rescom’s main phone number and the owner’s personal cell.
Neither line was answered. News 4 left a voicemail both times.
Neither voicemail was returned as of Friday evening.
Now, Sapack is left footing the bill for a roof he’s already paid for once.
“There's a disconnect with the law and my protections as a customer,” Sapack said.
