Couple Gets Housed Over Metal Roof

Homeowners' association gets the last laugh in roof spat

Dealing with homeowners' associations can drive people through the roof, but this is ridiculous.

A Davie couple who recently put a metal roof on their home after getting permission from the neighborhood board now has to pay about $170,000 to have it removed, reports JustNews.com.

The metal roof on William and Danielle Philips' home is against the Pine Island Bay by-laws governing roofing material. Only cement tile roofs are allowed in the area.

The roof looks like the other rooftops. The association claims they only approved of the roof originally because it looked like cement tile, but when neighborhood brass found out it was metal, they sued. And the roof brigade won.

A Broward judge ruled the Philipses must raise the roof, replace it and pay the association's attorneys' fees.

Grand total? "Probably close to $170,000," William Phillips told JustNews.

The couple isn't sure how they will come up with that kind of money.

"I hope and pray to God and the justice system that there will be some justice here," Danielle Phillips said.

It's not that the roof is ugly or dangerous or makes a lot of noise when the wind howls, either. The lightweight material is probably safer than all of those around it because the roof can withstand 150 mph winds and makes the house more energy efficient.

For the association, the rules are the rules, even if complying means a homeowner might actually lose their home.

"If this association didn't enforce the roof restriction for Mr. Phillips, then you couldn't enforce them against anybody," association attorney Paul J. Milberg said.

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