Buyer beware

When Steven Dexter and his partner, Betsy Stephens, needed a new roof for their salon business last May, they hired Outstanding Roofing. The work was done well. The salon paid the bill. Everything was great, Dexter said.

Until September, when Dexter and Stephens got a letter telling them Pacific Supply had filed a lien for $1,600 against their building.
Innovations Hair Salon paid Outstanding Roofing in full, but Outstanding Roofing never paid Pacific Supply for the roofing materials the builder used on the salon. And unless Outstanding Roofing suddenly settles its debts with Pacific Supply, Innovations will have to pay for its roofing materials twice, plus attorneys’ fees and interest, Dexter said.
“I don’t think Idaho consumers are aware that this can happen to them,” he said.
Dexter and Stephens have spent the last several months calling Outstanding Roofing and trying to negotiate with Pacific Supply.
“They’ve stopped answering our calls,” Dexter said, referring to the owners of Outstanding Roofing. “At first they’d tell us, ‘We’re working on this. We should have this taken care of in week or two.You’re going to be the first account we pay off.’”
But Dexter found out later that Innovations is in a long line of Outstanding Roofing customers hit with materials liens, and if Outstanding were to pay Pacific Supply the $1,600 for Innovations, it would be applied to other debts first.
Pacific Supply doesn’t have any incentive to negotiate, Dexter said. Since they have a lien on the salon building, they hold all the cards. An attorney advised him to go ahead and pay. If Innovations goes to court, the court would uphold the lien and the salon would be stuck with bigger legal fees.
Dexter said he’s learned the hard way what Idaho businesses and consumers need to do to protect themselves against unscrupulous contractors:
• Ask the contractor for a release of lien from their suppliers and subcontractors, or
• Pay the suppliers and subcontractors directly.
Calls to Pacific Supply and Outstanding Roofing were not returned. One of the two numbers listed in an online phone book for Outstanding Roofing was disconnected; the IBR left a message at the other number. Debbie Phillips, who Dexter identified as one of the owners of Outstanding Roofing, was reached, but said she is no longer associated with the company, which she said is still in business. She offered an alternative phone number for owner Jeff Greer, but the number was no longer in service.
***
To contact the author of this story, send e-mail to:  lora.volkert@idahobusiness.net.