- A lien was placed on the Thomases' home due to a payment dispute.
- RoofTek's attorney claims the supplier misallocated payments, causing the lien issue.
- The lien was removed after a settlement in March, but the Lien Recovery Fund is depleted.
LEHI — Kaitlin and Tyler Thomas' home has a brand-new roof. They paid for it in full. So, imagine their surprise when they received a notice that a construction lien had been recorded against their property for over $8,187.47 that was still owed for the job.
The lien was filed by a supplier who sold the materials for the Thomases' new roof. The supplier stated it had not been paid. But no, the roofing company insisted to the couple that it had paid the supplier.
"They're saying 'Your roof materials have been paid for in cash,' but they won't provide a receipt," Kaitlin said.
No receipt? No release.
And no small problem for the Thomases.
"We've been looking for a home to potentially move. That means we have to get this lien taken care of before that can happen," Tyler said. "It also means that they can potentially foreclose on our home."
The Thomases said their frustration isn't just about the money, it's the waiting, the calls, the paperwork and that feeling their house has become leverage in someone else's fight.
"I do feel like we are in the middle of two companies' dispute, and we shouldn't have to be," Kaitlin said. "We paid what we needed to, and we shouldn't be involved in this."
Frustrated, the Thomases asked me to get involved in this.
The roofing company the couple hired and paid is called RoofTek. The KSL Investigators reached out to the company. We heard back from the company's lawyer.
RoofTek "has always paid its debts," the attorney assured us. And that includes the debt owed on the Thomases' home, wrote the attorney.
But thanks to an ongoing "dispute" between the roofer and its supplier, the supplier "credited the (RoofTek's) payment to the oldest invoice instead of crediting the Thomases."
"I hope that the lien goes away," Tyler had told us.
Now, it has.
RoofTek said it reached a settlement with its supplier in March, and the lien that was on the Thomas home has since been removed.
"The real story KSL Investigates should be pursuing is how RoofTek stepped up and took care of the lien," the couple's lawyer said.
"It never should have been our problem," Tyler said.
Throughout this situation, the roofer pointed the Thomases to Utah's Lien Recovery Fund – a safety net set aside by the state for a homeowner to use when their home is slapped with a construction lien by an unpaid supplier. But that fund is now out of money and there are no plans to replenish funds.
