In 2020 we signed a contract with Lowe's to re roof our house after losing my wife's mother to cancer. It was a house they had owned together since 1997, and had made a lot of memories in. We got married there. Brought our son home from the hospital to that house. My mother in law passed away in hospice care in that house. I helped carry her out of that house for the last time.
On November 4th, 2020, a subcontractor of Lowe's overloaded the roof with shingles, punched holes through the roof and broke ten trusses. They didn't do anything to fix it, and then offered is just over $3000 on December 9th to fix it, which we told them wouldn't do. All we ever asked was they fixed the damage they caused. December 10th it rained and the interior of the house was soaked. Over the next nine months the house was destroyed by weather and Lowe's did nothing to resolve it.
Our insurance only did so much, the ROC was no help, and we ended up losing the house. We have lived in a fifth wheel trailer, and other accommodations during this time, while we fought a five year legal battle to rebuild our house. It was finally determined in arbitration on December 15th, 2025 that we were the "prevailing party" but we were to get zero damages, zero award for emotional distress, and no legal fees reimbursed. We were only refunded the 15 thousand for the contract, and another 3 thousand for our deductible. After paying about 100k in legal fees, we still do not have a house.
During this same time we had to fight our county and the town of Gilbert Arizona who wanted to take part of our land through eminent domain. That was also a long legal battle, with most of the money we received going to lawyers fees. We still lost land, and walked away with about 20 thousand dollars, which went to paying off all the debt we have incurred the last five years.
We don't know what else to do, but turn to everyone out there to ask for help. Our son has spent all of his teen years without a real house. A place to spend with friends, and family. My wife has lost the first home she ever purchased and all the memories she made there. I have had to watch my family suffer through this entire ordeal, only to get told the people at fault don't have to pay.
Please, if you can help, we would appreciate it. We would like to pay off debt so we can rebuild. If you can't donate, that's fine, please just share this and our story.
Eric, Terri, and Declan