The roofing contractor business is going through a tight time now because of the economy and housing market. However any legitimate roofing company is not going to go door to door asking for free roof inspections and your business. But that is exactly what some "roofing contractors" are doing.
The scam works like this: the roofers drive through the neighborhood going door to door offering a free roof inspection. If the customer agrees, once on the roof, the roofer looks for damage and if there is any, reports it and tires to get a contract to fix it from the homeowner. This sounds just like any reputable roofing contractor in Denver would do, and it is. The difference is if the roof is fine, the scammers start damaging it.
So you have a 100% chance of having a damaged roof if you let a door to door roofer into your home. Legitimate Denver roofing companies may offer a free inspection, but they will not go door to door. In any case, it is a good idea to supervise workers, especially if you have not dealt with that company before. Benjamin Franklin had a plaque that applies in this case, saying: not to oversee workers is to leave your purse open.
Most people don't know the difference of what it looks like for someone on a roof to be repairing or damaging a roof. And most people just mind their own business. The owners are usually inside and can't see anything that is going on. The scammers run it as a numbers game: eventually someone will let them on their roof, and someone will pay for the damage. Since they are just manufacturing work out of nothing, it only takes a few houses to pay for their week.
The only people who might understand are construction workers and insurance adjusters. Insurance companies hate this kind of behavior because it inflates the probability of something happening far beyond the projected average. Don't be worried that big roofing companies only care about the lucrative Denver roof replacement jobs. Most will give you a free consultation because they want to build connections. At some time, everyone will need a little roof work.
There was a case where an insurance adjuster noticed that roofers were damaging the roof of his neighbor. These crooked contractors were using the aftermath of a hurricane as an excuse to create more "wind damage."
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