Garland Roofing Caught Bid Rigging in Los Angeles Schools

It may be "Old News", but history is important. For those of you who don't know it, a Garland rep who was a former Tremco rep, according to the Garland Regional Sales Manager, got caught along with the company, a contractor and two individuals in a Los Angeles area school roofing bid and had an Injunction placed against them for: Bid Rigging Vertical Price Fixing Horizontal Price Fixing Unlawful, Unfair or Fraudulent Business Practices Unfair, Deceptive, Untrue or Misleading Advertising Commercial Bribery 



Garland was forced to other measures, including but not limited to opening up the approved contractor's list. 



Some of the other measures included training their employees for five years not to unfairly compete. 



Garland was also ordered to pay $67,600, of which $30,000 was for civil penalties for unfair competition at $2,500 per violation (according to present-day Code Section), $27,600 for legal and investigative costs, and $10,000 in cy pres restitution. 



Defendant Prime Commercial was ordered to pay $11,500 for unfair competition. Defendant Henry Marsh was ordered to pay $11,500 for unfair competition. Defendant Robert Maiers was ordered to pay $10,000 for unfair competition. 



Essentially, the LA DA's offices let them off with a slap on the wrist....and the investigator told me that they wished they had done more after hearing the whole story.... 



So - did you ever hear about it? Here's the actual consent order: 



See: http://roofingscam.blogspot.com/2009_04_19_archive.html#7929549341180344241 and look at the first post, 



"Garland Consent Decree in Bid Rigging Case" 



For more on Garland, look here: 



30-year warranty discussed by the Midwest Roofing Contractor's Association former Testing Director: http://roofingscam.blogspot.com/2008_03_02_archive.html 



Look at the second post down, "Examining the 30-Year Warranty" Actual 30-year warranty: http://roofingscam.blogspot.com/2009_04_19_archive.html 



Look at the second post down, "GARLAND 30-YEAR WARRANTY" 



Overcharges: http://schoolroofingscam.blogspot.com/2008/02/comparable-costs-between-manufacturers.html "Comparable Costs Between Manufacturers in Oakland, CA School, 2005" 



Update on the Overcharges, May 9, 2009: A recent report from a roofing contractor shows that the overcharges have reached this range: "I almost passed out when they sent me the material price quotes for the Garland built up roof system……$245.00 PER ROLL for a 1 square SBS Modified membrane. In our market, Performance/Derbigum is considered the “high end” material at a price of $90.00. Manville and TAMKO are competitive at $65.00." 



Note that the price he was quoted is about 3-4 times normal cost for the initial installation of a good roof with a warranty that usually only requires hundreds, not many thousands of dollars, in repairs when they occur versus a five-year payment to "keep up the warranty". And that cost does not include when the roofs will be redone.... 



A manufacturer is now in jail for reporting Garland to local officials: http://schoolroofingscam.blogspot.com/2009/04/new-hampshire-officials-declare-war-on.html "New Hampshire Officials Declare War on a Manufacturer Standing up to the Scam"



Attempt to stop Garland sole-sourced in Albuquerque Public Schools by a Task Force: http://ww2.aps.edu/cgi/displaypress2.cgi?136 and in the Albuquerque Journal at: http://www.stopthewarmachine.org/events/jan18pdf.pdf (front page only) or go to www.abqjournal.com and search for the story - paid subscription or per piece, "APS Roofing Costs Sky High", January 19, 2003. It was also reported on KOBTV in Albuquerque in May, 2001. 



Garland was named in the New Jersey State Commission of Investigation Report of 1999/2000, "Waste and Abuse in School Roofing Projects" as one of three roofing manufacturing firms overcharging and more. See: http://schoolroofingscam.blogspot.com/2008/02/new-jersey-report-link.html 

"The New Jersey Report -- The Link" 



Garland is now heard to be "annualizing" Purchase Orders in the 6-figure range in California, where labor is done separately and the contracts are "broken out". The appropriate licensed persons did not review conditions, design or draw up the proper competitive and detailed bidding documents necessary to ensure the public health, safety and welfare. Ohio is having the same problem, we hear.



Update:  See www.thebakersdfieldboys.blogspot.com for Kern High School District purchase orders....