Storm victims warned about potential scammers

Expert: Do your research, choose local when hiring contractors

PEARSALL, Texas – Homeowners whose homes were damaged by storms last week are being urged to beware of roofers and contractors from out of town seeking work.

On Friday night rain, wind and hail pelted parts of San Antonio and points southwest. There were tree limbs down and power outages and damage to homes and cars.

"The windows shattered and broke, we have ice inside the house (and) water," said storm victim Irma Saldivar on Friday. "The trees are on top of the truck."

In Pearsall on Monday, auto glass repair trucks were a common sight and so were tarps over roofs and cars.

Ruben Aguirre was having a friend use a leaf blower on his roof to clear off the leaves and branches to check for hail damage. He knew his work truck got dinged up.

"As you can see, my truck, you see where it was hitting it," Aguirre said.

As for the roof, he's not sure.

"Right now, we're going to look at that roof, see how much damage is on it," Aguirre.

Storm victims like Aguirre are being urged to use caution when choosing someone to repair their roofs because storms draw roofers to town.

Ronnie Suarez of Integrity Roofing said those roofers may not be there to back up their work.

"It's really about reputation and someone who's been here a long time," Suarez said.

Suarez said the San Antonio Local Roofers Association is one resource for local storm victims.

He said they should take their time, choose a local roofer and do some research.

"You also want to check the Better Business Bureau, you want to check Angie's List, I would make sure that you look and see if they have a place of business," he said.

He said some of the itinerant roofers that come to town actually get a cell phone number with the local area code to appear like they are from the local area.

The web address for the San Antonio Local Roofers Association is salocalroofers.com.

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