Fighting For You: Woman Says J&R Roofing Didn’t Honor Contract, Took Thousands

Many in North Alabama are still working to recover from the tornadoes of April 27, 2011. One Huntsville homeowner started her own rebuilding process a couple of weeks after the storms hit. She paid thousands of dollars to a contractor to fix a roof and install a fence, but says the company did not do its job. The woman is having a hard time getting things fixed more than one year after the storm.

Kathy Lawler is counting on WHNT NEWS 19′s Venton Blandin to take action!

Lawler told us she’s exhausted all of her resources to get the job done or money back! She is still living more than a year later, under a roof without a fully functional chimney and inside a home surrounded by a fence not cemented into the ground. The homeowner is ready to give up, sell her home and walk away from it all.

The tornadoes of April 27, 2011 created a mess in nearly every Alabama county. The storms did their fair share in Madison County.

“I am relieved you guys are here. I really appreciate that,” said Lawler.

Lawler wants WHNT NEWS 19 to help her fight J&R Roofing.

“They’ve pretty much gotten the roof done, but if you see on other side, they still have the piece that goes on top of the chimney that is not on yet,” added Lawler.

A contract between the company and Lawler proves workers were to also install a fence.

“They left all of these holes. Obviously, there are holes in the gaps in the thing that they never put in,” added Lawler.

Lawler chose to hire Robert Moon, who makes up the ‘R’ in J&R Roofing, based on a friend’s recommendation.

She says the issue began when Moon opted to build her fence with vinyl instead of wood.

“That’s how he got all the money out of me by telling me that it was going to cost more because it was vinyl. I thought he needed the money for the actual supplies,” added Lawler.

Lawler gave Moon a check for more &8,162.33 to make it right. She thought it would also balance out in the end, so she did not mind handing over the money.

The money and work are not the only things off-balance a year later.

“My bedroom is right here. I will hear it in the really bad wind. It looks like it will just, I mean if there is another storm, it’s gone. I am surprised it stayed this long,” added Lawler.

WHNT NEWS 19′s Venton Blandin could clearly see the job was incomplete, so he called and emailed Moon. Blandin pulled Moon’s public records. Blandin reached out to Moon’s friends and relatives. Moon responded a week later.

Moon agreed to sit down with Blandin a few days later, but did not show.

Moon called the station hours later asking to re-schedule the interview. Blandin offered options, but none seemed to work. The eight minute phone call got intense.

“I’m going to wait. I am here until 6:00 p.m. We need to do it today, if you don’t do it today, I’m going to run the story without you,” Blandin said during the phone conversation.

“Can I go ahead and go, but meet there later?” Moon asked during the phone conservation.

“Are you going to be back today?” Blandin replied to Moon.

“Yes. I promise you. I will without a doubt,” Moon replied to Blandin.

Moon did drop by WHNT NEWS 19′s studios unannounced the next day. He agreed to tell why his company did not finish the work promised to Lawler.

“I hired someone that said they could do the work, but obviously they couldn’t. After the fact, they have basically put me under,” said Moon during the sit-down interview.

Lawler had not heard from Moon in 13 months. He has apologized to Lawler since Blandin started fighting for her.

“Oh, 500 times, yeah. Yeah, definitely,” added Moon.

Moon went by Lawler’s home to drop off, what he calls a simple, but sincere letter.

“Basically, I was just apologizing and telling her what happened. It was never my intention to take this long. It just has and I am sorry for it,” added Moon.

He says both have reached another agreement.

“I am just going to fix it myself by doing what ever it takes. I am going to go over there whenever I can and fix it all myself. You know, work on what ever was done wrong basically,” added Moon.

Lawler says she is fine with Moon’s plan. She says the situation has been hard for her. Lawler has spent all of her money since this began, wants to sell her house, but can not do that until the things are fixed. WHNT NEWS 19 will check-in with Lawler to see if Moon is keeping his word.