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Every roofing company in Macomb County offers a free inspection, including us, and that has made the phrase almost meaningless. The words on the door hanger are the same whether the person holding it is a licensed local roofer or a crew that drove in from three states away specifically because a storm just came through. The offer is not the tell. What happens in the ten minutes after you say yes is the tell, and this guide walks through exactly what to watch for, because the pattern repeats after nearly every significant Michigan wind event.
01 / THE SHORT ANSWERA free inspection is not the scam. The pressure is
There is nothing inherently wrong with a company offering to look at your roof at no cost. Inspections are quick, they cost a legitimate contractor very little to provide, and they are how any honest roofer earns the right to quote you. What separates a scam from a normal sales visit is not the price tag on the inspection. It is whether the person on your porch tries to rush you into a signature before you have any idea what you are agreeing to, whether they bring damage with them instead of finding it on your roof, and whether they can be found again next week if something goes wrong.
If an inspector asks you to sign anything, a contract, a work order, or an insurance form, before they have shown you a single photo of your roof, stop and ask why the paperwork is coming first. A legitimate inspection produces evidence before it asks for a signature, not after. You can book that kind of inspection yourself in about a minute through the estimator.
02 / THE PATTERNWhy storm chasers show up after every wind event
Macomb County has real storm history, which is exactly why this problem is worth writing about honestly rather than pretending it does not exist. The county was included in federal disaster declaration DR-4757 after the severe wind storms of August 2023, and events at that scale are also when out-of-state canvassing crews show up in the following days and weeks. Their business model depends on volume and speed: knock on as many doors as possible while the storm is still fresh in people's minds, sign as many roofs as possible, and move on to the next county or the next state before slower, quality-focused work would even be finished.
That business model is not automatically dishonest. Some traveling crews do legitimate work and leave. But the incentive to move fast and sign fast is exactly what produces the red flags in the next section, because a crew that needs volume has no time for the parts of an honest inspection that take longer: getting into the attic, photographing the roof from multiple angles, explaining what a finding actually means, and giving a homeowner time to think. Speed is the tell, not the storm itself.
It is also worth naming plainly why this matters beyond the individual homeowner. A rushed, poorly documented inspection that manufactures or exaggerates damage does not just risk one bad roof. It can lead to a rejected insurance claim, a lien against the home from an unpaid subcontractor further down the chain, or a policyholder locked into an assignment of benefits they did not fully understand. The next two sections cover both halves of that risk.
03 / THE TELLSThe red flags, one by one
None of these signs alone proves bad intent. Together, or even two or three at once, they are worth taking seriously.
Door-knockers who want a signature before they climb
A legitimate inspector wants to look at your roof first and talk price second. If someone is asking you to sign a work authorization, an insurance claim form, or anything with a dollar amount on it before a ladder has touched your house, that is backwards. You cannot meaningfully consent to work on a roof nobody has inspected yet.
Damage that arrives with the inspector
This is the most serious version of the scam and the hardest for a homeowner to catch alone, because it happens on the roof, out of view. A dishonest crew member climbs up, creates or exaggerates hail marks with a tool, and comes down with photos of damage that was not there an hour earlier. The defense is simple even if it feels awkward: ask to go up with them, or ask a neighbor or family member to watch from the ground, or ask for time-stamped photos taken from the moment they arrive, not just the moment they climb down.
Pressure to sign an assignment of benefits on the spot
An assignment of benefits, often called an AOB, hands your right to negotiate and collect an insurance payment directly to the contractor. It is a real legal document with real consequences, not a routine intake form, and Michigan homeowners should read one carefully or have someone else read it before signing, never on a first visit under time pressure. Our assignment of benefits guide covers what the document actually does and the questions to ask before signing anything like it.
Cash, full payment upfront, or payment before any work starts
Some deposit for materials is normal on a scheduled job. A demand for the full contract amount, in cash, before a single shingle has been ordered, is not. It removes your leverage entirely if the crew never comes back, and it is a common feature of storm-chaser complaints across the industry.
No local address, no verifiable license, no way to find them again
Ask for a business address you could actually drive to and a license number you can look up. A truck with an out-of-state plate and a phone number that stops answering after the check clears is the classic pattern behind the worst outcomes: unfinished work, a warranty from a company that no longer exists in your area, or work that fails inspection and nobody left to call.
Urgency that will not survive a phone call to your insurer
Language like "today only," "the adjuster will side with us if we file now," or "you have to decide before we leave" is designed to keep you from calling your insurance company, a family member, or a second opinion. A roof problem that is real today will still be real tomorrow, and a legitimate contractor has no reason to fear you taking a night to think it over.
No written contract, just a verbal promise
A handshake and a business card are not a contract. Scope of work, materials, price, payment schedule, and warranty terms belong on paper, with a company name and license number printed on it, before any deposit changes hands. A crew that is reluctant to put terms in writing, or that hands you a single vague page with no line-item detail, is leaving itself room to change the story later, and leaving you with nothing to hold them to if it does.
A license number that will not check out
Michigan requires roofing contractors to hold a residential builder's or maintenance and alteration license, and that number can be verified online before you sign anything. A legitimate local roofer will give you the number without hesitation. A crew that stalls, gives a number that belongs to a different company, or claims licensing "does not apply to storm work" is telling you something important about how the rest of the job will go.
04 / THE PAPERWORK TRAPWhy the assignment of benefits deserves its own warning
Of everything covered above, the assignment of benefits is worth a second pass, because it is the one document that can quietly outlive a bad experience with a storm-chasing crew. Once signed, an AOB can give the contractor standing to deal directly with your insurer on the claim, including negotiating the settlement, which means a homeowner who wants to switch to a different contractor later may find the original signature still has legal weight. That is not a reason to fear every AOB a legitimate local roofer might ask you to sign as part of normal claim documentation. It is a reason to read it, ask what it actually authorizes, and never sign one on a first visit from someone you cannot verify.
If you would not hand a stranger the keys to negotiate with your bank, do not hand a stranger the right to negotiate with your insurer. Take the document home, or ask your insurance agent to look at it, before you sign.
05 / THE CONTRASTWhat a legitimate free inspection looks like
A real inspection is not faster because it skips steps. It is faster because the person doing it knows exactly what they are looking for. Here is what the honest version looks like, side by side with the pattern above.
| A STORM-CHASER RED FLAG | WHAT A LEGITIMATE INSPECTION LOOKS LIKE |
|---|---|
| Wants a signature before they climb the roof | Inspects first, shows you photos, then discusses next steps |
| Damage appears only after they come down | Photos are dated and shot from multiple angles, including before and after climbing |
| Pushes you to sign an AOB immediately | Explains what the document does and gives you time to read it |
| No local address, unverifiable license | Can give you a real address, a license number, and local references |
| Demands full payment in cash upfront | Normal deposit terms, written into a contract, tied to milestones |
| "Sign today or the offer is gone" | Encourages you to take your time, get a second opinion, or call your insurer first |
We inspect Macomb County roofs the same way whether a storm just came through or it has been a quiet year: shingles, flashing, gutters, and the attic side of the deck, photographed either way, at no cost and with no obligation to hire us afterward. Our guide to choosing a roof inspector and our free versus paid inspection breakdown go deeper on what to expect and what questions separate a real inspector from a rushed one.
The transparency this site is built on is the actual counter to a storm chaser's pitch. Show the photos, explain the finding, and let the homeowner decide with time to think, not under a deadline someone else invented.
06 / IF YOU ALREADY SIGNEDIf you already signed something, here is what to do
If you already signed a work order, a contract, or an assignment of benefits with a crew you now have doubts about, do not panic and do not assume it is unfixable. Start by locating the document and reading the cancellation terms; Michigan law generally gives consumers a right to cancel certain door-to-door contracts within a short window, and the paperwork itself should state that right. Call your insurance agent before any claim is filed or finalized and tell them exactly what happened. If you have concerns about deceptive practices, Michigan's consumer protection channels take complaints about door-to-door and storm-related contracting scams, and a documented complaint can matter even after the fact.
From there, a second, independent inspection is the fastest way to know where you actually stand. It costs nothing to have a local roofer look at the same roof, photograph the same areas, and tell you plainly whether the original crew's findings hold up. If they do, you have lost nothing by checking. If they do not, you have caught a problem before it became a contract you were locked into.
If your roof has an active leak right now and the storm-chaser conversation is happening in the middle of a real emergency, tarping to stop the water is a separate, urgent step from deciding who does the permanent repair. You can start either conversation, a second-opinion inspection or emergency tarping, from the estimator, or run your own numbers on repair costs first with the cost calculator.
- A free inspection offer is not the scam by itself; pressure to sign before you see evidence of damage is.
- Out-of-state storm-chasing crews follow major wind events, including the kind of storms behind FEMA disaster declaration DR-4757 in Macomb County.
- Damage that appears only after the inspector climbs down, cash-upfront demands, and no verifiable local address are the clearest red flags.
- An assignment of benefits is a real legal document; read it or have someone else read it before you ever sign one on a first visit.
- A second, independent inspection costs nothing and is the fastest way to check whether an earlier crew's findings actually hold up.
Questions we hear most
No, a free inspection is a normal, low-cost way for a legitimate roofer to earn your business, and most reputable companies offer one. The scam pattern is what happens around the inspection: pressure to sign before you see photos, damage that appears only after the inspector climbs down, or demands for full payment upfront.
Their business depends on volume right after a significant wind or hail event, while the storm is still fresh, before slower, quality-focused local companies would finish comparable work. Macomb County's inclusion in federal disaster declaration DR-4757 after the August 2023 storms is a real example of the kind of event that draws this activity.
Locate the paperwork and check its cancellation terms, since Michigan generally gives consumers a right to cancel certain door-to-door contracts within a short window. Call your insurance agent before any claim is finalized, and get a second, independent inspection, which costs nothing and will tell you plainly whether the original findings hold up.
- FEMA, disaster declaration DR-4757-MI, Michigan severe storms of August 2023 (Macomb County designated). fema.gov/disaster/4757
- Michigan Attorney General, Consumer Protection resources (home repair and contractor complaints). michigan.gov/ag: consumer protection
- Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), residential builder licensing and the public Verify a License lookup. michigan.gov/lara
- Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS), consumer insurance resources and complaint process. michigan.gov/difs