Stark County Ohio Home Owners - be sure to get a copy of your roof warranties

One of my home sellers recently had to replace a roof with out-of-pocket dollars because the roofing contractor apparently did not properly register the roofing product warranty with the manufacturer.

The homeowner purchased a new roof in 2001 that carried a 30 year warranty. The roofing contractor can no longer be reached by phone - they apparently have gone out of business, or else have changed cell phone numbers and the homeowner cannot locate them. The product manufacturer cannot honor the warranty because no paperwork was filed by the contractor. If the roofing contractor HAD properly registered the paperwork with the manufacturer, the manufacturer would have honored it, even without being able to track down the contractor.

After this happened to my seller, I myself called our roof contractor (we just had a new roof put on our house about a month ago.) I got a copy of the warranty that was filed with the manufacturer. If I had not asked for this, I'm not sure the company would have automatically given it to me or not. Probably not, as a matter of fact, since our roof has been on for over a month. Since this time, I also have a call in to our heating and cooling contractor who just installed a new furnace at our home in the spring, and a new generator.

These items cost a lot of money and warranties are certainly so important for our protection! So the next time you make a purchase for a home improvement item, make sure that your CONTRACTOR REGISTERS THE WARRANTY WITH THE MANUFACTURER. Be sure by asking for a copy of it. Same thing when you buy an appliance or electronic item - be sure to mail in the warranty postcard with your name and address.

This gives me some motivation to do a better job of organizing our home files over the upcoming winter months!