Family claims roofing company forged signatures to cash insurance check

Rogero Roofing puts new roof on home after I-TEAM steps in

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville family contacts the I-TEAM for help, claiming a local roofing company forged their signatures in order to cash a $10,000 insurance check -- even though they hadn't gotten their new roof or been informed their insurance company had even issued the check. Now they want to warn others about their experience with Rogero Roofing and Construction.

Pedro Castillo Sr. said when a salesman with Rogero Roofing told him in April 2018 that he needed a new roof, he wasn't surprised to hear that since his roof was 16 years old.

"He offered me to sign some paperwork that would allow him to put up the claim," Castillo Sr. told the I-TEAM. 

In January of this year, nine months after signing that document and hiring Rogero Roofing, Castillo Sr. noticed his homeowners' insurance premium increased. He started shopping around for a new policy and another insurance agent told him something that surprised him.

"She said, 'Hey look at this, congratulations, you have a new roof.' I look at my wife, 'New roof? We don't have any roof!'" Castillo Sr. explained.

Castillo Sr. said when he signed the paperwork with Rogero Roofing, he had no idea he had signed an assignment of benefits form or AOB. 

And, he said no one from Rogero Roofing ever told him that his insurance company had issued the $10,250 check in October 2018, which was made out to him, his wife and Rogero Roofing. In order for the check to be cashed, it required an endorsement by all parties on the check.  

"My parents' signature is on there, but they were forged because that is not their signature at all," said the couple's son, Pedro Castillo Jr., while showing the I-TEAM a copy of the check.

"Mr. Castillo, do you recognize this as yours?" we asked Castillo Sr., pointing to the signature on the back of the check.

"No, that is not my signature, not at all," he answered.

Someone had signed the names of both Castillo Sr. and his wife to the back of the check so it could be deposited by Rogero Roofing. The couple's son couldn't believe it.

"I kept calling and calling and they kept giving me the run-around," said Castillo Jr.

To help his parents, he called the I-TEAM, and we went to Rogero Roofing's office on Sunbeam Road looking for the owner, Jeremey Rogero. We were told he wasn't there and we asked to speak with Tina or Marina, the two women Castillo had spoken with several times over the phone.

"I'm Marina," a woman behind the counter said.

"Pedro Castillo says this company collected $10,250 dollars for a roof that has never been replaced. Have you been talking to them?" we asked.

"I have, I have spoken to them," the woman answered.

She went on to say she did not want to speak to us, but an hour after we left that office, Rogero Roofing called Pedro Castillo Jr.

"They contacted me and they were talking about, 'Pick a day and we'll come out,'" he told us."I laughed because I knew they knew they were in trouble."

Less than a week later, workers from Rogero Roofing finally did what the Castillos hired them to do a year earlier. They replaced the roof at the family's Westside home.

"I'm very, very, very happy, thanks to you guys, cause you started it. So I'm very, very thankful of that," Castillo Sr. told the I-TEAM.

"If it wasn't for you guys, we'd probably still (be) waiting, so you guys did a great job," added Castillo Jr.

No one from Rogero Roofing responded to the I-TEAM's request for an interview.

If you have an issue involving Rogero Roofing, you can file complaints with the following organizations and agencies:

The BBB’s website also offers advice for consumers on hiring a roofing contractor in Florida.


About the Authors:

Jennifer, who anchors The Morning Shows and is part of the I-TEAM, loves working in her hometown of Jacksonville.