Judge orders contractor to repay Iraq War veteran after roof repairs stall

A Caldwell County judge has ordered a Lenoir contractor to repay tens of thousands of dollars to an Iraq War veteran after failing to replace the roof of his storm-damaged home. The veteran said he doubts he will ever see the money, even after winning the judgment, and has already hired another company to finish the repairs.

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Chris Mollies showed Channel 9’s Dave Faherty where his roof was damaged during Hurricane Helene. He shared photos of the two trees that came crashing down during the storm. For months, the family’s home was draped with a huge tarp as he worked with his insurance to make the repairs before hiring Roof’d Up Roofing & Repairs in Lenoir in March.

“They wanted 60% as a deposit for materials which is $23,000 and change,” Mollies said.

Mollies has paperwork for the quote but said materials did not arrive.

He checked back multiple times and became concerned.

The tarp over the roof was beginning to fail and after two-and-a-half months of waiting, Mollies said he told the company he planned on going to court if work didn’t begin within three weeks.

“They kept saying, ‘We can’t because of the rain,’” Mollies said. And I said, ‘That’s fine, but let’s plan this out with the forecast.’ And we would have 2-3 days of them to do work, and they never came out.”

Faherty reached out to Roof’d Up Roofing & Repairs by phone and went to the owner’s home Wednesday. He told Faherty he plans on paying back the money early next year but didn’t want to comment further and is considering a countersuit. Mollies doesn’t believe he’ll ever see his money.

“I highly doubt it,” Mollies said. “I highly doubt I’ll see this money again. I need the money to continue fixing the house.”

Faherty found out from attorneys Wednesday that if someone doesn’t pay a judgement a writ of execution can be filed, which is where the sheriff’s office can seize property. That property would be sold at auction to pay back the judgement.

VIDEO: Ashe County man saves driver from rising floodwaters during Hurricane Helene