{"id":921438,"date":"2026-07-08T18:42:23","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T18:42:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/921438\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T18:42:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T18:42:23","slug":"fraud-investigation-targets-massey-contracting-as-customers-employees-subcontractors-say-they-are-owed-nearly-1m","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/921438\/","title":{"rendered":"Fraud investigation targets Massey Contracting as customers, employees, subcontractors say they are owed nearly $1M"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.<\/strong> \u2013 A Jacksonville roofing company once known for giving away free roofs is now under investigation by the State Bureau of Insurance Fraud, as customers, employees and subcontractors say they are owed a combined total of nearly $1 million.<\/p>\n

Massey Contracting, a full-service roofing company that built its brand on community outreach and high-profile giveaway promotions, is now facing multiple lawsuits and a state fraud investigation. <\/p>\n

The company\u2019s owner, Chase Massey, spoke with the News4JAX I-TEAM about the allegations and blamed a quiet season in the tropics last year for some of the issues.<\/p>\n

Massey told the I-TEAM that his business model collapsed after no hurricanes struck Florida in 2025, leaving the company without the surge of storm-related roofing work it had counted on.<\/p>\n

\u201cWork slows down, you know, you try to keep everyone employed so they don\u2019t go look for a new job, and everyone\u2019s making really good money,\u201d Massey said. \u201cIt comes to a halt quick, and I\u2019d say I probably put myself in this position more than I\u2019d like to think by not letting people go when I should have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Employees say they weren\u2019t paid<\/b><\/p>\n

Massey says the company employed more than 100 people at its peak. At least one of those employees has taken legal action over unpaid wages.<\/p>\n

In a lawsuit filed by former sales manager Dean Richardson<\/a>, a judge ruled in Richardson\u2019s favor, ordering Massey to pay approximately $40,000 in unpaid wages. A subsequent attempt to garnish Massey\u2019s wages was unsuccessful.<\/p>\n

Court documents also reveal a zero balance in two of Massey\u2019s savings accounts and just $1,409 in a third account.<\/p>\n

Nearly $1M lawsuit from supplier<\/b><\/p>\n

Court records show one of the nation\u2019s largest roofing supply companies, SRS Distribution, is also suing Massey Contracting<\/a>, alleging the company failed to pay nearly $927,000 for roofing materials purchased on credit.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit also names Chase Massey personally, citing a personal guarantee he signed promising to repay the debt if the company could not.<\/p>\n

Customers still waiting<\/b><\/p>\n

Steve Otwell, a St. Augustine resident, says he is one of several Massey Contracting customers who paid a deposit for a new roof that was never completed. In his case, he paid $8,500 out of pocket and says he was never given a clear reason why the work was not done.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe excuses range from parts to weather: \u2018The cost of parts are going up; we\u2019re going to work you out; some of my workers left,\u2019\u201d Otwell said. \u201cIt was just one excuse after another.\u201d<\/p>\n

Otwell says he signed his initial contract with Massey in September, anticipating the work would be completed before Christmas.<\/p>\n

Free roofs, then fallout<\/b><\/p>\n

Massey Contracting made headlines across Jacksonville in 2024 with a sweepstakes promotion featuring the company\u2019s owners in a widely shared video.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m Chase, and I\u2019m Zach, and we\u2019re with Massey Contractors, and we are giving away another free roof,\u201d the promotional video states.<\/p>\n

The roof giveaways themselves are not under scrutiny. However, the allegations of incomplete work, unpaid wages and supply costs are now the focus of a state investigation.<\/p>\n

Owner promises resolution<\/b><\/p>\n

Massey told the I-TEAM that he is aware of all the allegations and lawsuits and is hoping to rebuild both his business and the community\u2019s trust. <\/p>\n

He told News4JAX that his lawyers and attorneys for SRS Distribution have been in communication since the case was filed and that he expects all pending cases to be resolved within 30 to 45 days.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone should hear in the next 30 to 45 days \u2014 get the refunds if there\u2019s work that\u2019s not completed that we have contracts with,\u201d Massey said. \u201cEverything\u2019s got permits on it, so it\u2019s not like we just took people\u2019s money and ran and didn\u2019t do it the right way. I mean, everything\u2019s permitted, and everyone has contracts and stuff like that. So if they do want a refund, they\u2019re more than welcome. And we will refund them, that\u2019s not an issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

For now, those are promises customers say they are still waiting to see fulfilled.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 A Jacksonville roofing company once known for giving away free roofs is now under investigation…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":921439,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5136],"tags":[5229,64,2436,3188,723,57511,15780,7310,371947,6459,275800,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-921438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-america","tag-business","tag-consumer","tag-fl","tag-florida","tag-i-team","tag-investigations","tag-jacksonville","tag-massey-contracting","tag-money","tag-roofing-company","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116885831563509424","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=921438"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921438\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/921439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=921438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=921438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=921438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}