Unethical Roofing Contractors Affect the Roofing Industry & Customers

Recently, a major roofing contractor on the East Coast admitted to not reporting $4 million dollars in income. Taxes & politics aside, this type of unethical behavior has far reaching consequences, not only for the roofing industry, but for its customers as well.

Low prices can be decieving. While, many businesses may simply continue to sell their product or service at the current market's rate and pocket the money that would have otherwise been paid for in taxes, many will substantially discount their price and simply \"pass on the savings\" to clients to undercut competitor pricing.

A company that allows this sort of deceptive practice is also likely to cut corners elsewhere, specifically on the quality of materials used and the safe labor practices that ethical roofers adhere to.

This type of behavior can also translate into non-payment of other bills. If the roofer hasn’t paid a supplier, you could end up with a lien on your property to pay for the materials, despite the fact that you already paid the contractor to do that for you. This is especially true if they get audited in the middle of job and suddenly have to come up with money to pay taxes. At any rate, you can ultimately be held responsible if the roofing contractor doesn’t pay his bills to suppliers.

An unethical company is likely to go out of business once its activities are known in the community. Customers may find they no longer have a warranty for their roofs or assistance to deal with errors or defects.

Last, but certainly not least, it's not unusual for the IRS to audit customers of businesses that have been in trouble. Even if they're just asking questions, and you have been playing by the rules, it's still not going to be a pleasant experience.

At the end of the day, paying extra to work with an ethical, professional roofing company that plays by the rules will likely help to avoid headaches and provide for a better night’s sleep.