Irma Related Question: Am I Unreasonably Pissed Off?

TLDR; Why are people selfish and stubborn?

My parents, in their 70s, live 1000 miles away in Miami Springs, FL. Right in the path of Irma. The house across the street was bought by a flipper, and is in the middle of a gut renovation. This Wednesday, a crew showed up and loaded stacks of new roofing tiles onto the roof. Days before the storm is to hit. Seems like a pretty obviously bad idea. Wind will turn these into projectiles. Dad and neighbors are all concerned, as am I.

My dad reached out to the flipper (who doesn't live in the neighborhood) to ask him to take down the tiles. Flipper says: "All I have to do to comply with code is tie the tiles together, and, anyway, I have insurance so don't worry about it." Basically, pound sand. Dad wrote a polite follow up email, Flipper's response was to call and repeat that he was in compliance with "code."  His onsite foreman also physically threatened another neighbor.

This seems like a total d$&k move, since it isn't this guy whose cars or homes will get damaged. Or whose family could get hurt. And also because he had a crew onsite yesterday working and boarding up the windows. It would've taken them an hour or two to put the tiles inside, about the same amount of time they spent tying them together.  

I just don't get it, why is this guy so obstinate about doing something that will reduce the likelihood of damage, and give people in his small town maybe a teeny bit of peace of mind? It infuriates me and makes me wish bad things for him, and I hate doing that.

Is my reaction stronger just because of my general worry about my folks?

No that's a dick move. I'm not a lawyer but I don't think meeting code excludes someone from negligence. 

Document everything. Pictures, communication, etc. It will come in handy later when your parents' insurance company settles with his.

Hope your parents are bugging out. Miami is no place to be for the next few days.

I bet the flipper would be less pleased if his house burned down. 

Ladder on the roof... push tiles off roof into flippers back yard...

"shucks... wind..."

You guys are missing the obvious scam.  

The flipper's home is going to get destroyed, and he's going to make a claim well in excess of it's value because of "new".  

In addition- "an act of God" is why parts of it's house will destroy yours.  So their insurance won't pay anything.  The only way it will is if YOUR insurance company fights them directly.  So that's another reason to make a lot of documentation.  And try to show that it's sub-par half-assed putting together, too.  And that stuff is lying around when they leave.  

As seen by the construction companies shown on the news in downtown Miami- it's their responsibility to take care of their stuff.

I agree with above. "Gee, I have no idea where the tiles went. I guess the storm blew them away." I also would be bugging the heck out of Miami right now. Staying does not seem to be the best option.

ManhattanM (fka NY535iManual) said:

I just don't get it, why is this guy so obstinate about doing something that will reduce the likelihood of damage, and give people in his small town maybe a teeny bit of peace of mind? It infuriates me and makes me wish bad things for him, and I hate doing that.

Simple, some people can't handle criticism and don't learn anything until they get hurt. Take lots of pictures, make sure the neighbors take lots of pictures, I'm no lawyer but I'll hazard a guess this can somehow be used to hurt him a courtroom.

Is there anyone in the neighborhood still young enough to be up on a roof? Get that guy to get them off the roof. A guy down the street from me just passed away a couple weeks ago because he fell off his roof. He was 77. I used to talk with him when I saw him out walking his dog. He was a nice guy and left behind a nice widow. Because of that, I would not let my 70 year old dad up on a roof.

Have parents call their insurance co to see what they recommend. Likely will be the same as stated above, pictures and documentation of the communication and replies received. Hope your parents are safe and don't choose to stay and ride it out. 

Part of the reason they left the tiles up there MAY be that they feel the weight will help keep the plywood on the structure.

If you called and warned him about the tiles and possible damage, it isn't so much as act of God.   He could now be negligent.       

Hurricanes cause all kinds of damage. Sometimes that damage can occur to gas lines in the home.  It would be a shame if the damage to the gas lines went unnoticed during the build, and then, just a few days after the renovation is complete, but before anyone new has bought the home, a massive fire ruined the entire structure...Im just saying. That would be a shame.

mndsm said:

I bet the flipper would be less pleased if his house burned down. 

That was my first thought as well.  As to the physical threat by the site supervisor.....call the police and fire departments, I'd imagine they take a dim view of people loading hurricane ammo on rooftops just now.  Or the threats of violence against genial senior citizens.

Thanks everyone for your input.  My parents aren't in an evac. zone, and talking my former Marine dad into leaving wasn't going to happen otherwise.

Yeah, I cant help but feel that the flipper has some kind of scam going here.  If he or his construction guys genuinely think that the tiles will hold down plywood, that's monstrously stupid.  To top it all off, the SOB had people on site again TODAY moving the tiles around. The rain is going to trash the house, fine, but he could easily have limited the effect on other people.

I normally help clients build wind farms and power plants, but I put on my "a$$hole plaintiff's lawyer" hat and wrote Mr. Flipper a letter pointing out that he'd be liable for consequences of failure to remedy this obvious hazard, yadda yadda... but I got no response and tiles still there.

Are they by the beach? Skeet surfing USA? I'm not known for tact. It's like driving. I'm amazed every day how my tippy toe coupe doesn't get shunted into disaster. I apply that pessimism to everything. 

He probably doesn't have flood insurance, so he's hoping for wind damage.

Inform the flipper in no uncertain terms, that even if compliment with code, that knowing leaving said items on the roof during a state of emergency, even if tied down, leaves them liable for both civil (wrongful death suit) and criminally liable (negligent manslaughter) if a pack of the materials were to become projectiles and kill someone during the storm. 

take broom across street and push the tiles off the roof once the wind starts to pick up.  "told you not to leave those on the roof, the wind blew all those bundles right off the roof!" 

Nothing a nice civil suit after the storm won't fix. Take plenty of pictures and then find some lawyer that will work on settlement wins only. Let the legal costs drain the flipper of every last dollar he has.