Santa Clara, CA: Thousands of Texas homeowners who have been victimized by severe weather may also be victims of a wide-ranging conspiracy involving door-to-door solicitors, public insurance adjusters and attorneys, according to a consumer fraud class-action lawsuit filed in Dallas.
The lawsuit claims that individuals, companies and law firms purportedly representing residents with property damage insurance claims are actually operating a pyramid scheme to collect unlawful and fraudulent fees that can make completing the repairs almost impossible.
According to court documents, the scheme typically begins when a door-to-door solicitor working on behalf of a roofing contractor claims that his company can get the homeowner's insurance company to pay for property damage, such as a new roof. After the initial insurance payment arrives, the solicitor keeps the funds and brings in a so-called "public adjuster" to inspect the home and seek additional payment from the insurance company, charging a fee of 10 percent of the total claim plus other expenses.
The solicitor allegedly also tells the homeowner that a lawyer must be hired to get still more payments from the insurance company, adding a 25 percent to 40 percent fee for any recovery. Having never met or even spoken with the homeowner, the attorney then files a lawsuit against the insurer without the homeowner's knowledge, agrees to a mediation, and settles the matter without the approval of or consultation with the homeowner. When a settlement check finally arrives, the payment often is not enough to pay for roof repairs because of deductions to cover the fees and expenses of the attorney, public adjuster and solicitor.
Plaintiff Juan Guerra, of Dallas, alleges he was initially was approached in 2014 by a representative of Arlington-based roofing contractor Lampcorp, who said the company could handle his insurance claim for a new roof. Mr. Guerra then turned over the payment from his insurer to Lampcorp, which demanded that Mr. Guerra hire a public adjusting firm, and a law firm to obtain additional payments from Mr. Guerra's insurer.
Mr. Guerra still has not received the new roof he was initially promised by the solicitor, nor have the insurance proceeds taken by Lambcorp been returned to him.
According to attorneys representing the plaintiffs, the lawsuit also exposes a troubling increase in Texas of an illegal practice called barratry, which includes the improper solicitation of potential cases by individuals not associated with the lawyer handling the matter.
The case is Guerra v. Jorge Garcia, Vivian Armas, et al., No. DC-15-03338, in the 134th District Court in Dallas. Plaintiffs are represented by Mark A. Ticer of The Law Office of Mark A. Ticer and Van Shaw of the Law Offices of Van Shaw in Dallas.
