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    Roofer in Ozarks steals $12,000 from homeowner

    If you’re looking for a roofer in the Ozarks, look no further than Maeghan Kidd.

    Maeghan Kidd Just Wanted A Roof

    What she got instead was a headache spurred by an incompetent criminal with a penchant for taking things that did not belong to him.

    Enter Eric Haueter, the owner of 1 Call Construction in Texas who was hired to do a roof replacement on Kidd’s home.

    Haueter was brought in to replace an old roof on Kidd’s home, one that she says her family had outgrown in recent years. The new roof replacement then was supposed to serve as a marketing point that Kidd could use to rent the house out to prospective renters in her area.

    “People are needing rental houses all the time,”

    notes Kidd.

    During the spring of 2020, a major storm rocked Kidd’s city, at which point her home’s old roof began to leak into the main bedroom.

    This is where Haueter was called and ultimately hired to facilitate the replacement of her roof.

    “He could get us in the fastest,”

    Kidd says of why she chose Eric Haueter’s company, but in a sordid turn of events, Kidd didn’t end up receiving the new roof she was promised.

    Haueter initially told her she would be getting a new roof in two weeks, but that date kept getting delayed, despite the fact that Kidd had already invested $12,000 in 1 Call Construction so Haueter could purchase materials and hire a crew.

    “For our project it was about seventy percent of the total cost,”

    Kidd says of that $12,000 down payment.

    And yet, Kidd’s project continued to be put off, all while Haueter ignored her calls and texts seeking an explanation for the delay.

    Finally, months later, on November 6, Haueter responded, telling Kidd:“the weather has been good to us it’s looking like we be starting soon”

    Kidd thought this was good news, but when she returned to her property on November 18, Kidd says the job still wasn’t completed. Kidd then messaged Haueter: “Good evening. We stopped by the house today and still no signs of work.”

    At that point, Haueter ghosted Kidd, so she contacted law enforcement in order to attempt to rectify the situation.

    Worse, Kidd’s home had now taken on more water damage due to the roof not being replaced.

    “It ruined all the insulation and some of the wood was damaged. It’s actually starting to mildew. It’s probably going to cost us double what it would have been,”

    Kidd says.

    Upon learning of the events that had transpired, authorities were quick to investigate and soon charged Haueter with stealing by deceit. As the legal proceedings unfolded, court documents revealed that Haueter had told an official that Kidd “pissed her off,” and that was one reason why he was slow to replace her roof.

    Additionally, Haueter claimed that the contract he signed with Kidd stipulated that he had one year to complete the roofing project, but further investigation revealed that there was no such language in the contract.

    “Contracts are done within a timely manner,”

    Kidd says, noting how the long delays were not warranted.

    When authorities asked Haueter why he didn’t simply refund Kidd her money, he said that he had already purchased the materials for the job, but he could not produce a receipt, and the local roofing supplier had no record of doing business with Haueter or his company.

    Even more damning, city officials had no record of the job, meaning Haueter never even filed for a permit to do the work on Kidd’s home.

    Sadly, this level of malevolence was nothing new for Haueter. Records indicate that Haueter was previously charged with passing a bad check, forgery, and lien fraud.

    In one instance, he was even reported to have agreed to building a home and garage for a client, but after cashing their check for $12,000, he never performed the work.

    Haueter is currently paying restitution to that client.

    Plus, another search showed that twenty years ago Haueter was charged with three counts of forgery. The Lebanon Police Department said that Haueter previously admitted to committing those crimes.

    Still without a roof, Kidd wants for this madness to end.

    “I want to be his last victim,”

    she says, adding that she wants her money back and then some.

    “If this was a loan at a bank, you’d end up paying a whole lot more for the time that you’ve had the money. If I need to go tell my story in front of a judge, I’m more than willing to do it.”

    Efforts to contact Haueter’s attorney for an on-camera interview were denied, but his attorney did offer this statement:

    “Because of the pending criminal charges, I have advised Mr. Haueter to not make any statements about the case. Our U.S. Constitution affords all of us the right to remain silent and it is important to allow the justice system to work before conclusions are drawn. Mr. Haueter has entered a plea of not guilty and we look forward to him having his day in court.”

    To track this story and many others, follow Roofing Insights on all of their social media channels!

    Quentin Super
    Senior Copywriter at Roofing Insights, author of the internationally-selling book The Long Road North, founder of quentinsuper.com

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