Homeowners warn of alleged roofing scam

Several homeowners in the Chubbuck area say a man going door to door and offering to inspect roofs for storm damage is nothing more than a conman.

Following the early June storms, homeowner Sherry Van Every said she had her roof inspected by a local contractor called Sage Builders. While Sage found only minor damage, Van Every said that a couple of days later she got a visit from a man called Garrison Pace.

According to a business card Local News 8 obtained, Pace is a project manager at All Pro Xteriors, a Minnesota-based contractor with an office in Boise.

Pace offered to do his own inspection of Van Every’s roof.

“This particular company had actually knocked on our door three times,” said Van Every.

Van Every called Sage Builders who encouraged her to go forward with the second inspection. What Pace didn’t know, Van Every said, was that representatives from Sage Builders were video taping Pace.

“He did, in fact, fold the shingles, tear the shingles off,” said Nate Merrill, co-owner of Sage Builders.

That was Wednesday afternoon, Merrill said.

He took video of Van Every’s roof Tuesday at which time he said he observed only minor damage.

Van Every said Pace had recommended she file a claim with her insurance company and hire him as the contractor.

Merill said he thinks that’s what Pace did with other homeowners.

Local News 8 spoke to another Chubbuck homeowner who didn’t want to be identified. He said when Pace came knocking on his door, he turned him away.

“In that subdivision, there was probably three or four houses with very similar damage to roofs,” said Hunter Jones, Merrill’s business partner.

Merill said all four homes had T-lock shingles. Because they’re no longer sold, he said if one is damaged, a homeowner could end up having to replace the entire roof.

“On a roof, there’s a couple thousand dollars profit,” said Merrill.

“All of our insurance rates will go up if they continue to put in all of these claims on these homes when they’ve damaged the roof,” said Van Every.

Thursday Chubbuck Police issued Garrison Pace a misdemeanor citation for operating a business without a license. Pace hasn’t been charged with any vandalism.

Local News 8 checked with both the city of Chubbuck and the city of Pocatello and All Pro Xteriors is registered with neither city. Officials with both cities said the company had asked about applying for a license earlier this week.

Local News 8 attempted to contact All Pro Xteriors and Pace. No one answered the phone at either All Pro’s Boise office nor at its Minnesota headquarters.

When Local News 8 called Pace, his voicemail was full.