Roofing Rip-Off Horror Stories, Vol. 2: Three Florida Roofing Scams That Cost Homeowners Over $140,000

Photo: Scott Graham / Unsplash

This is the second entry in our Roofing Rip-Off Horror Stories series — real, documented cases of homeowners who hired the wrong roofer. Every story here is pulled from court records, official press releases, or on-the-record news reporting and verified against the primary source.

Case 1: The Insurance Scheme That Trained Homeowners to Lie (Pasco County)

John Sutton ran Kaizen Construction Group, holding it out as a licensed roofing company in Pasco County from August 2021 through February 2022. It wasn't licensed at all.

Kaizen's salesmen went door to door pitching free roof replacements, then coached homeowners on exactly what to tell their insurance company to get a claim approved. Once a claim number came through, homeowners were asked to sign a "Direct to Pay" authorization — handing Sutton the insurance payout directly. He never pulled a single permit for any of the replacements.

Florida's Chief Financial Officer, Jimmy Patronis, announced Sutton's arrest on March 24, 2023, on charges of filing a false and fraudulent insurance claim, grand theft, unlicensed contracting, and failing to carry workers' compensation coverage. Investigators put the confirmed loss at $41,552.61 — and said Sutton admitted to victimizing hundreds of homeowners statewide. He faced up to 25 years in prison if convicted on all counts.

Source: Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis, official press release, March 24, 2023 (via National Insurance Crime Bureau).

Case 2: $42,000 in Deposits, Then Silence (Jacksonville)

Steven Otwell paid an $8,500 deposit to Massey Contracting for a new roof in October. Regina Morgan paid $15,077 in December. Maurice and LaTasha Hills were approved for a $19,000 loan through a lender Massey referred them to — and Massey withdrew $4,000 from it the day they signed. None of the three households got a finished roof. The Hills said Massey eventually blocked their number.

When Action News Jax reached owner Chase Massey, he said refunds were coming. Reporters also found four separate lawsuits from commercial lenders accusing Massey of taking upfront business funding and not repaying it — two have since been dropped, but the remaining active cases put more than $440,000 in dispute. A former employee separately sued Massey for over $36,000 in unpaid wages; Massey said that matter was "commission-based" and being handled by attorneys.

Source: Deja Mayfield, Action News Jax, May 19, 2026.

Case 3: 20 Complaints Across 3 Counties (St. Lucie, Indian River)

After Hurricane Milton tore tiles off her roof, single mother Ann McFate paid Family First Roofing Group a $15,800 down payment to fix it. Months later: "Nothing," she told WFLX. "They took my money, and I haven't seen them back." Rain has since leaked through the unrepaired roof, damaging her bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen floorboards.

She wasn't alone. Steve and Melanie Goldstein paid the company more than $15,000 in November for work that didn't happen. Kevin Parker, renovating his Hutchinson Island home, said he was out more than $12,000 with the job never started. Vero Beach car wash owner Daniel Mulkey paid a deposit in March for a metal roof — Family First never even pulled the permit.

WFLX counted 20 total complaints across three counties. Company co-owner Brandon Laverdure told reporters the business "grew too fast" to keep up with post-storm demand, and acknowledged customers were angry about paying for a product and service they never received.

Source: Dave Bohman, WFLX, August 7, 2025.

Why This Is How Roofers Rip You Off

Three different companies, three different states of "legitimate" — a fake license, a real but overextended business, and a company training homeowners to misrepresent insurance claims — but the same core pattern:

• Money moves before the roof does. Every case here involves a large deposit or insurance payout collected well before any real work started.
• No permit, no paper trail. Neither Kaizen nor Family First pulled permits on the jobs they were paid for — a permit is a public record a homeowner can check before paying anything.
• Storm damage is the hunting ground. Hurricane and insurance-claim urgency is what every one of these companies leaned on to get homeowners to sign fast.
• "We'll make it right" often doesn't. Both companies that responded to reporters promised refunds or blamed growth — promises that, per the homeowners quoted, didn't arrive.

Photo: CH L / Unsplash

This is exactly what makes roofing fraudsters so effective: the pitch sounds like help right after a storm, which is exactly when homeowners are least equipped to vet who they're signing with.

How to Avoid Being the Next Case in This Series

• Confirm a permit was actually pulled for your job — call your county building department, don't take the contractor's word for it.
• Never sign a "Direct to Pay" authorization that routes your insurance payout straight to the contractor before work is inspected and approved.
• A company that coaches you on what to tell your insurer is committing insurance fraud, and asking you to help.
• Check complaint volume, not just reviews — a pattern of "they took my money" stories across multiple counties is a bigger signal than one bad review.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do roofers rip you off most often?

Beyond vanishing with a deposit, a specific insurance-fraud version exists: a company coaches homeowners on what to tell their insurer, then has the payout routed directly to the contractor via a "Direct to Pay" form before any work is verified.

How do I know if roofing fraudsters are targeting my area after a storm?

Check for a pattern, not a single complaint — your state attorney general's consumer alerts, your county's Better Business Bureau listing, and local news investigations often surface a cluster of "took my deposit" stories tied to the same company well before charges are filed.

Danger Signs to Watch For

Every red flag below is pulled directly from the three cases above — not a generic list:

• Coached you on what to tell your insurance company
• Asked you to sign a "Direct to Pay" form routing your insurance payout straight to them
• Operated without a valid contractor's license, despite claiming otherwise
• Never pulled a permit for the job
• Took a large deposit or loan payout before any real work started
• Went silent or blocked contact after getting paid
• Had multiple lawsuits or dozens of complaints already on the public record
• Blamed "growing too fast" instead of finishing jobs it was already paid for

If a roofer matches two or more of these, stop before you sign anything.

This is not the right roofer. If you want a contractor who's actually licensed, actually local, and actually vetted, start with Find The Right Roofer instead of whoever knocks on your door after a storm.