COLORADO SPRINGS — Unlike many homeowners, Chris Hampton doesn't mind the unexpected visitor.
His wife passed away last year and he welcomes the occasional company.
"I don't think I realized it, you know, being alone, I, but I never realized how much my wife did for me until I lost her," Hampton said.
Last month, the unexpected visitors claimed to be with a Colorado company "Rocky Mountain Home Renovations", only they weren't.
Hampton said they offered to do a free roofing inspection. He said a neighbor was getting their roof repaired and figured his own roof could use a look.
"I've had probably a dozen people do the same thing, come up to the door and want to check my roof out. I tell them, no, I mean, I think the roof was new in 2017? But we've been through some hailstorms and stuff, but I don't know why. I told him, yeah, go ahead," Hampton said.
They came down and said they found a hole and could repair it for $500. That was on a Friday. Hampton said they returned Monday to repair and were on his roof for about 20 minutes.
Hampton said they told him his whole roof needed to be replaced and it would cost him about $20,000.
"I said that's a lot more than $500," Hampton said.
He said he wanted to talk to his insurance company and his son. Hampton said as soon as he got on the phone they packed up everything and left.
Hampton's son moved to Colorado Springs, went onto the roof, and discovered a total mess.
Hampton received a business card from the company "Rocky Mountain Home Renovations." A search of the business on the Secretary of State's website shows it's in Good Standing with the state.
However, the business card has a different address, email, and phone number for the actual business. The impersonators used his business's logo. News5 Investigates caught up with the actual business owner, Robert Gerle who said he received a similar call from another family in Colorado Springs.
"That really, really bothers me because contractors already kind of have a bad name," Robert Gerle, the owner of Rocky Mountain Home Renovations said, "I've worked really, really hard for a lot of years, and I put literally blood, sweat and tears into my business to try and build it and to operate in an ethical manner."
Gerle said he's not even licensed to contract in El Paso County and he also doesn't do roofing.
"I've just never had any call for work down there [El Paso County]. And so I never saw the need to go through the time and the expense of getting a license down there," Gerle said.
Gerle has had a difficult year. He had a back injury, and a few months ago his trailer was stolen with his tools, costing him thousands of dollars.
"Of course, my mind made the leap. Are these the guys that stole my tools? Is that how they have my company name?" Gerle said.
Gerle said he filed a report with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office about the impersonators. He is waiting to learn more.
"I'm certainly not an investigator or a law enforcement officer. I don't have the capability or the means to go track them down myself. Even if I did, it would be a phenomenally bad idea. It really would," Gerle said.
Hampton said they found another company to repair his roof and insurance will cover the cost.
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