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Homeowner Protection

Signed a roofing contract you regret? Here's how to cancel it legally and hire a local roofer instead.

Since Isaias, yard signs from roofing companies nobody on the Gulf Coast had heard of a month ago are on every other street, and a lot of them come with a contract that was signed at the front door, under pressure, before the homeowner had a second quote. Florida gives you real ways out. Every one of them runs on a clock measured in days, so this is the plain-English version, with the letter to send and the numbers to call, from a Gulf Breeze roofer who has watched this cycle since Ivan.

Last updated · Complete Roofing LLC · Gulf Breeze, FL · FL Lic. CCC1337480

Reviewed by Jason Taylor, third-generation Florida-licensed roofing contractor (verify FL Lic. CCC1337480 at myfloridalicense.com)

Quick answer
Usually yes, but move today. If you signed within 180 days of Isaias and your home is in a declared county, Florida law lets you cancel without penalty within 10 days of signing, or before the official start date, whichever comes first (§ 489.147(6)). If the contract was signed at your home, you also have 3 business days under the FTC Cooling-Off Rule and Florida's home-solicitation law. A contract missing the required no-rebates notice is void within 10 days, and a contract with a roofer who holds no Florida license is unenforceable by them at any time. Cancel in writing by certified mail to the address in the contract, keep the receipt, then get a licensed local quote.
Storm-contract window
10 days
FS 489.147(6): 10 days from signing or until the official start date (permit, tarp, or shingles going on), whichever is first.
Isaias{" "}contracts covered through
April 7, 2027
180 days after the storm, for homes in a county named in the Governor's emergency order.
Door-to-door window
3 business days
FTC Cooling-Off Rule + FS 501.025 for contracts signed at your home. Saturdays count; Sundays and federal holidays don't.
Fee owed inside a window
$0
Both laws say 'without penalty or obligation'; Florida adds that the seller may not keep any part of a cash down payment.

Which cancellation right applies to you?

There are three clocks and two trapdoors. The 10-day storm rule covers roof contracts signed within 180 days of Isaias for homes in a declared county. The 3-business-day rule covers contracts signed at your home. A contract missing Florida's no-rebates notice is void within 10 days. And a contractor with no Florida license cannot enforce the contract at all. Find your row below, then jump to the step-by-step.
Your situationWhat you can doDeadlineLaw
You signed a roof repair or replacement contract after Isaias and your home is in Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton or another county named in the Governor's emergency orderCancel without penalty or obligation10 days after signing, or the official start date (permit issued, temporary repair made, or final materials going on), whichever comes firstFla. Stat. § 489.147(6)
You signed at your home, in your driveway, or anywhere other than the contractor's own office (a door knock, a visit after you called the yard sign, a tailgate signing)Cancel; the seller may not keep any part of a cash down paymentMidnight of the 3rd business day after you signed16 CFR 429 (FTC) · Fla. Stat. §§ 501.021–501.055
The contract has no notice saying the contractor may not offer rebates, gifts, cash or deductible waivers for an inspection or a claimVoid the contract10 days after signingFla. Stat. § 489.147(5)
The company holds no Florida contractor licenseThe contract is unenforceable by the contractor, in law or in equity, and carries no lien or bond rightsAny timeFla. Stat. § 489.128
You paid more than 10% down and they have not applied for a permit within 30 days, or started within 90 days of the permitCertified-mail demand to permit, start, or refund; silence for 30 days is evidence of no just cause, and keeping the money is a crimeAny time after the 30- or 90-day markFla. Stat. § 489.126

More than one row can apply at once. The letter template below cites all of them, and you keep the paragraphs that fit.

The 10-day storm rule, in plain English (FS 489.147(6))

A homeowner may cancel a contract to repair or replace a roof without penalty or obligation within 10 days after signing, or by the "official start date," whichever comes first, if the contract was signed within 180 days of events covered by a Governor-declared state of emergency and the home is inside the declared area. The cancellation must be sent by certified mail, return receipt requested (or another mailing with proof) to the address in the contract.

Your Isaias dates. The Governor declared the state of emergency in Executive Order 26-202, signed Oct 6, 2026, which runs through about December 5, 2026 unless extended. For Isaias, the order named Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Walton counties, among others. Because the law counts 180 days from the event, not from the day you signed, the right reaches roofing contracts signed through about April 7, 2027, so it is in force today. The 10 days are calendar days, not business days.

The "official start date" is the trapdoor. Your window closes early the moment any one of three things happens: the contractor's crew starts installing material that will stay on the finished roof, a permit is issued, or a temporary repair is made in compliance with the Florida Building Code. That is why some companies rush to pull a permit or send a tarp crew within a day or two of signing. If either has already happened, you may still have the 3-day rule or one of the other ways out below, and you will likely owe a fair amount for the tarp itself.

What your contract should say. A contractor who signs a roof contract during the declared emergency (which is now) must put this notice, in bold type of at least 14 points, immediately before the space for your signature, in the contract or an attachment to it:

“You, the residential property owner, may cancel this contract without penalty or obligation within 10 days after the execution of the contract or by the official start date, whichever comes first, because this contract was entered into within 180 days of events resulting in the declaration of a state of emergency by the Governor. The official start date is the date on which work that includes the installation of materials that will be included in the final work on the roof commences, a permit has been issued, or a temporary repair to the roof covering or roof system has been made in compliance with the Florida Building Code.”

If that paragraph is missing, or buried in 9-point type on page six, the right still exists; the statute grants it to you, not the contract. The contractor, meanwhile, faces a fine of up to $10,000 per violation (§ 489.147(3)), and the omission is worth mentioning in your letter and in a complaint to DBPR. The same section also requires a separate bold, 14-point notice on the signature page telling you to verify coverage with your insurer before signing (§ 489.147(7)). A storm-period contract with neither notice was written by someone who either does not know Florida law or hopes you don't.

The 3-business-day rule for contracts signed at your kitchen table

Any sale of $25 or more that a seller personally solicits and closes somewhere other than their own place of business, including at your home, is a door-to-door sale. You may cancel it until midnight of the third business day after you signed, for any reason, with no fee, under the federal Cooling-Off Rule (16 CFR 429) and Florida's Home Solicitation Sale Act (§§ 501.021–501.055). Written notice, delivered or postmarked by the deadline, is enough.
  • Who called first matters for one law, not the other. Florida's statute excludes a sale that "results from a request for specific goods or services by the purchaser," so if you called the number on a yard sign and asked for a roof, the state 3-day rule may not apply. The FTC rule covers sales at your home "including those in response to or following an invitation by the buyer," so it still does. Its only repair carve-out is for your personal property, and a roof is real property.
  • A business day is any day but Sunday or a federal holiday. Saturdays count. Sign on Friday and your deadline is midnight Tuesday. Columbus Day (October 12, 2026), Veterans Day (November 11) and Thanksgiving (November 26) do not count.
  • What they owed you at signing. Under the FTC rule the seller must tell you orally about the right, print a 10-point bold statement of it next to your signature line, and hand you two completed copies of a "Notice of Cancellation" form with their address and your deadline date filled in. Florida requires the statement below under the caption "BUYER'S RIGHT TO CANCEL." A contract that has none of this is a door-to-door sale done wrong, which strengthens your position and is worth reporting.
  • Your deposit comes back. Florida: the seller may not keep any part of a cash down payment and must refund within 10 days of your cancellation (§ 501.041). FTC: refund within 10 business days of receiving your notice (16 CFR 429.1(g)).
  • The handwritten-waiver trick. The FTC rule has one real exception: you initiated the contact for a bona fide emergency and wrote out, by hand, a separate dated and signed statement describing it and waiving the 3-day right. Tarp crews sometimes have homeowners write exactly that. If you did, the 3-day rule may not reach that tarp sale, but the 10-day storm rule can still reach a roof contract you signed with the same company, and nothing in the FTC rule lets a pre-printed "non-cancelable" clause or a typed waiver take the right away.
Florida's required wording (§ 501.031)BUYER'S RIGHT TO CANCEL“This is a home solicitation sale, and if you do not want the goods or services, you may cancel this agreement by providing written notice to the seller in person, by telegram, or by mail. This notice must indicate that you do not want the goods or services and must be delivered or postmarked before midnight of the third business day after you sign this agreement. If you cancel this agreement, the seller may not keep all or part of any cash down payment.”

Missed both windows? Five more ways out

After the 10-day and 3-day clocks run, the contract does not become bulletproof. Check, in this order: whether it carries the no-rebates notice (missing means void within 10 days of signing), whether the company holds a Florida license (none means unenforceable), what the insurance contingency clause actually says, whether a deposit over 10% has blown the permit and start deadlines, and whether the cancellation fee is a penalty dressed up as damages.
  1. The missing no-rebates notice (§ 489.147(5)). Every Florida roof repair or replacement contract, storm or no storm, must include a notice that the contractor may not offer a rebate, gift, gift card, cash, coupon, waiver of your insurance deductible, or anything else of value in exchange for a roof inspection or for filing a claim. If yours doesn't, you may void it within 10 days after signing. Read the whole contract, including the fine print on the back.
  2. No Florida license (§ 489.128). Go to myfloridalicense.com, choose Verify a License, and search the company name on the contract. You want a current Florida certified roofing contractor license (prefix CCC) or, while DBPR's Isaias emergency order is in effect, a Florida-licensed general, building or residential contractor; an out-of-state license does not count. If there is no Florida license, Florida says the contract is unenforceable by the contractor in law or in equity and that they have no lien or bond rights. Report it to DBPR's unlicensed-activity hotline (below); during a declared emergency, unlicensed contracting is a third-degree felony.
  3. The insurance contingency. Many storm contracts are "contingency agreements": the company does the work if your insurer approves the claim, often for whatever the insurer pays. Read that clause. If the claim is denied or the adjuster approves only a repair, the agreement usually ends by its own terms. Two Florida rules help here: a contractor may not give you a repair authorization tied to a claim without a good-faith itemized estimate of materials and labor (§ 489.147(2)(e)), and may not interpret your policy, advise you on coverage, or adjust your claim unless licensed as a public adjuster (§ 489.147(2)(d)). A company that did either has handed you a complaint.
  4. Deposit over 10%, no permit, no start (§ 489.126). A contractor who takes more than 10% of the price up front on a residential job must apply for permits within 30 days of the payment and start work within 90 days after the permits issue, unless you agreed in writing to longer. If they haven't, send a certified-mail letter demanding that they permit, start, or refund. If 30 days pass with none of the three, the law lets a court infer they had no just cause, and keeping the money becomes a theft offense, a felony at $1,000 or more.
  5. The "cancellation fee" that is really a penalty. Florida enforces a liquidated-damages clause only if the real loss was hard to estimate when you signed and the amount is not grossly disproportionate to what the contractor could actually have lost. A 25% or 35% fee on a job where nothing was ordered, permitted or built is the kind of clause courts strike down. Add a "we'll cover your deductible" pitch, a claim they "filed for you," or a quote that doubled after the storm, and you are also describing unfair and deceptive trade practices, which is what the Attorney General's consumer line is for.

None of these is a form letter you can mail and forget. If the company has started work, filed a lien, or is threatening to sue, get a lawyer involved before you refuse to pay; the free and low-cost options are at the bottom of this page.

How to cancel, step by step (do this today)

Put it in writing, cite the law, send it by certified mail with return receipt to the address in the contract today, keep the receipt and tracking number, email a photo of the letter the same day, and do not let a crew start. The postmark is your proof, so the day you mail it is the day that counts.
  1. Find the address. Use the mailing address printed in the contract; the storm rule requires it. If the contract has no address at all (some don't, which is itself a red flag), use the address DBPR lists for the company's license and say so in the letter. Florida's deposit law points to that same address when a contract is silent.
  2. Write the letter. Use the template below. Name the contract by date, say you are canceling, cite every rule that fits, ask for your deposit back, and tell them not to order materials, pull a permit, or send a crew. Do not explain, argue, or apologize; one page is plenty.
  3. Mail it certified, return receipt requested. At the post office counter, today. Photograph the receipt and write the tracking number on your copy. Any other mailing that gives you proof (Priority Mail with tracking, FedEx, UPS) also satisfies the storm rule, but certified mail is the wording in the statute, so use it.
  4. Send a courtesy copy the same day. Email or text a photo of the signed letter and the certified-mail receipt to the salesperson and the company. It is not a substitute for the mailing, but it stops the "we never got it" conversation and it timestamps your decision.
  5. Do not let them start. If a crew or a material delivery shows up after you have mailed the cancellation, do not let them on the roof and do not sign anything, including a "delivery ticket." Photograph the truck, the plates, and the time. Work done after a valid cancellation is not work you ordered.
  6. Watch the refund clock. Ten days under Florida's home-solicitation law, ten business days under the FTC rule. If nothing arrives, send a second certified letter, file the complaints listed below, and, if you paid by card, dispute the charge with your bank once the deadline passes.
  7. Keep a folder. The contract, every text and email, the letter, the receipts, photos of your roof as it stands today, and the name of everyone you spoke to. If this ever goes to a lawyer or a judge, that folder is the case.

The cancellation letter: copy it, print it, mail it

Fill in every bracket, keep the paragraphs whose condition fits you, delete the rest, sign it, and send it certified mail. The print-ready version is the same letter on a clean white page.
Open the print version

[Today's date]

SENT BY CERTIFIED MAIL, RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED - Article No. [tracking number]

Copy also sent by email to [contractor's email address] on [date]

[Contractor's legal name, exactly as printed on the contract]

[Mailing address printed in the contract]

Re: NOTICE OF CANCELLATION - roofing contract dated [date you signed]

Property: [your street address], [city], Florida [ZIP]

Contract, proposal or job number: [if any]

To whom it may concern:

I am canceling the above contract for roof [repair / replacement] at my home, effective immediately. Do not order or deliver materials, apply for a permit, schedule a crew, or perform any work at this property.

[Keep this paragraph only if you signed within 180 days of Hurricane Isaias (October 9, 2026), your home is in a county covered by the Governor's emergency declaration, and you are mailing this within 10 days of signing and before any permit was issued, any temporary repair was made, or any roofing material was installed.]

I cancel this contract without penalty or obligation under section 489.147(6), Florida Statutes. The contract was entered into within 180 days of events that are the subject of the Governor's declaration of a state of emergency (Executive Order 26-202, as amended), the property is located within the area covered by that declaration, and this notice is sent within 10 days after the contract was executed and before the official start date.

[Keep this paragraph only if the contract was signed at your home, or anywhere other than the contractor's own place of business, and you are mailing this before midnight of the third business day after you signed. Saturdays count as business days; Sundays and federal holidays do not.]

I also cancel this transaction under the Federal Trade Commission's Cooling-Off Rule (16 C.F.R. Part 429) and Florida's Home Solicitation Sale Act (sections 501.021-501.055, Florida Statutes). This notice is delivered or postmarked before midnight of the third business day after the date I signed. I do not want the goods or services.

[Keep this paragraph only if the contract contains no notice that the contractor may not offer rebates, gifts, cash, deductible waivers, or anything else of value in exchange for a roof inspection or an insurance claim, and you are mailing this within 10 days of signing.]

In addition, the contract does not contain the notice required by section 489.147(5), Florida Statutes, and I am voiding it on that basis within 10 days after executing it.

[Keep this paragraph only if you paid a deposit or any other money.]

Please refund my payment of $[amount], made on [date] by [check / card / cash], within 10 days of receiving this notice, to the address below. If any materials have been delivered to the property, they are available for pickup; contact me to arrange a time.

Please confirm this cancellation in writing to the address or email below. I do not authorize any further charges under this contract.

Sincerely,

______________________________

[Your printed name]

[Your mailing address]

[Your phone] - [Your email]

Enclosure: copy of the signed contract (first page and signature page)

The paragraphs track the wording of Fla. Stat. §§ 489.147(5)–(6) and 501.025–501.041 and 16 CFR 429.1. It is a template, not legal advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship with anyone.

What if they already tarped the roof or dropped off materials?

A tarp installed to code, or a permit already issued, is an "official start date" that closes the 10-day storm window, and you will owe a fair price for work actually done. You may still have the 3-day rule or one of the other ways out, nothing obliges you to let them do the rest of the roof, and a lien is only as real as the work behind it.
  • Pay for the tarp, not the roof. Ask for an itemized invoice for the temporary work only, compare it with what a tarp normally costs here (we price storm work the same as any other job, which is also what Florida's price-gouging law requires during a declared emergency), and pay the fair part promptly in a way that leaves a record. Paying for the tarp does not revive a canceled roof contract.
  • Materials in the driveway. Tell the company in writing that the bundles are available for pickup and when. Under the FTC rule, if the seller does not collect goods within 20 days of your notice you may keep or dispose of them; for a roof-sized delivery, give them a reasonable chance to get a truck there and photograph everything.
  • Liens, in proportion. Florida's construction-lien law lets a contractor lien your home for labor, services or materials actually furnished and unpaid. It does not let them lien the price of a roof they never built. A knowingly exaggerated or baseless claim of lien is a fraudulent lien (§ 713.31): the lien is defeated and the filer owes damages and attorney's fees. Contracts over $2,500 must carry the state's capitalized lien-law warning (§ 713.015); its absence is one more sign of a non-compliant contractor. Do not sign a "change order," "completion certificate," or anything else to make them go away.
  • Nothing furnished, no lien. If the company has filed or threatened a lien after a valid cancellation with no work done, that is a lawyer conversation, and a short one.

Will switching roofers hurt my insurance claim?

No. The claim is yours, not the contractor's: an assignment of benefits is void on Florida property policies issued on or after January 1, 2023. Switching roofers changes who writes the scope and meets the adjuster, nothing more. What can hurt the claim is losing weeks to a company that is not performing, because notice of a claim is due within 1 year of the date of loss (§ 627.70132).
  • Ask the first company, in your cancellation letter or right after, for copies of any photos, measurements and estimates they produced. You paid for the visit with your time; the documentation of your own roof is useful to whoever finishes the job.
  • Tell your adjuster or agent that you have changed contractors and give them the new company's name. Nothing else about the claim changes.
  • The new roofer owes you a good-faith itemized estimate of materials and labor with any repair authorization tied to the claim (§ 489.147(2)(e)), can document the damage and meet the adjuster with you, and may not interpret your policy or negotiate your claim; only a licensed public adjuster or your own agent can do that. How that process works here is in our Florida roof insurance guide and the Pensacola claims walkthrough.
  • Deadlines: notice of the claim within 1 year of the date of loss, a supplemental claim within 18 months (§ 627.70132). A denied or under-the-deductible claim does not end your options; it changes them.

Florida law requires every roofer to tell you:

  1. The consumer is responsible for payment of any insurance deductible.
  2. It is insurance fraud punishable as a felony of the third degree for a contractor to knowingly or willfully, and with intent to injure, defraud, or deceive, pay, waive, or rebate all or part of an insurance deductible applicable to payment to the contractor for repairs to a property covered by a property insurance policy.
  3. It is insurance fraud punishable as a felony of the third degree to intentionally file an insurance claim containing any false, incomplete, or misleading information.

How to switch roofers without losing another week

Before you sign the next contract, make it pass the test the first one failed: a Florida license number printed on the contract, both 14-point bold notices, the no-rebates notice, a real local address, the contractor pulling the permit, a deposit you understand, and an itemized scope. Any licensed local roofer, including us, should clear every item without being asked.
  • License number on the paperwork. Florida requires a contractor's license number on every proposal, bid, contract and advertisement (§ 489.119(5)(b)). Verify it at myfloridalicense.com before you sign, and check that the name on the license is the name on the contract.
  • The notices. The 10-day cancellation notice and the insurance notice, both bold and at least 14 points, at the signature; the no-rebates notice; and, on any job over $2,500, the capitalized construction-lien warning and the Florida Homeowners' Construction Recovery Fund notice (§§ 713.015, 489.1425). Ask the salesperson to point to each one.
  • A real address and a local crew. A street address in the contract, not a P.O. box in another state, and a straight answer to "who is actually on my roof, and who do I call in year three?" The rest of the questions are in questions to ask a roofer.
  • The permit, pulled by the contractor. A re-roof needs one in every county here. A company that asks you to pull an "owner-builder" permit is telling you it cannot. You can check whether a permit was ever pulled on your address through Escambia County, Santa Rosa County, Okaloosa County or City of Pensacola.
  • A deposit you understand. Anything over 10% starts the 30-day permit and 90-day start clocks (§ 489.126); a contract that asks for 50% down "to hold your spot" is asking you to finance a stranger. A written start window and a written warranty belong in the same document.
  • An itemized scope. Materials by name, underlayment, decking allowance, flashing, ventilation, disposal, permit, and what happens if the deck is rotten. "Replace roof per insurance scope" is not a scope.

What we do when a homeowner calls us from inside another company's contract: a free inspection with a written, photo-documented report you keep whether or not you hire us; an itemized written quote at our regular pricing, the same before and after Isaias; we pull the permit; we never ask for an AOB; and we honor the 10-day cancellation right on every contract we sign during a declared emergency. If your window is about to close, say so when you call and we will prioritize the visit. The Isaias recovery picture for our area, permits and all, is on the Hurricane Isaias roof help page.

Who to call if the contractor won't let go

Florida has an agency for each piece of this: the Attorney General for deceptive practices, refused cancellations and price gouging; DBPR for unlicensed or non-compliant contractors; the Department of Financial Services for anything touching your insurance claim; and free or $25 legal help through the Disaster Legal Aid Helpline and The Florida Bar.
  • Florida Attorney General, Consumer Protection: 1-866-9-NO-SCAM (1-866-966-7226) or myfloridalegal.com. Refused cancellations, cancellation-fee demands, deductible "deals," bait-and-switch pricing, and post-storm price gouging (§ 501.160, in force while the emergency order is).
  • DBPR Unlicensed Activity Hotline: 1-866-532-1440 (you can stay anonymous), or file online at myfloridalicense.com. Complaints against licensed contractors who skipped the required notices, took a deposit and vanished, or offered to eat your deductible also go to DBPR; the Customer Contact Center is (850) 487-1395.
  • Florida Department of Financial Services, Insurance Consumer Helpline: 1-877-MY-FL-CFO (1-877-693-5236), 8 AM–5 PM ET, Monday–Friday. A contractor who filed, adjusted or steered your claim, or who asked you to keep your insurer's inspector away. Suspected insurance fraud goes to FraudFreeFlorida.com.
  • Florida Disaster Legal Aid Helpline: 833-514-2940. Free civil legal help for storm survivors who cannot afford a lawyer, run by The Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division with FEMA; home-repair contracts are on their list.
  • The Florida Bar Lawyer Referral Service: 1-800-342-8011, weekdays 8 AM–5:30 PM. A 30-minute consultation for no more than $25. Some local bar associations, including in Pensacola, run their own referral services as well.
  • Your county building department to confirm whether a permit was ever applied for on your address, and to report a company roofing without one.

This page is general information for Florida homeowners, current as of October 29, 2026, and not legal advice. Statutes cited: Fla. Stat. §§ 489.147, 489.128, 489.126, 489.127, 489.119, 489.1425, 501.021–501.055, 501.160, 713.015, 713.31, 627.7152, 627.70132; 16 CFR Part 429; Executive Orders 26-202 and 26-211. Read them yourself at leg.state.fl.us and ecfr.gov, and for your own contract, talk to a Florida attorney.

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Got Questions?

Canceling a Roofing Contract in Florida — Frequently Asked

The storm rule (FS 489.147(6)) closes at 10 days from signing or at the official start date, whichever comes first, and the door-to-door rules close at midnight of the third business day. After that you need a different lever: the contract is void within 10 days if it lacks the required no-rebates notice (also a 10-day limit); a contract with a contractor who holds no Florida license is unenforceable by that contractor at any time (FS 489.128); a contract written as contingent on insurance approval usually ends when the claim is denied, so read that clause; and a contractor who took more than 10% down and did not apply for a permit within 30 days, or start within 90 days of the permit, is in default once you send a certified-mail demand (FS 489.126). Outside those, you are negotiating a release. Get legal help before you refuse to pay.

Inside any of the windows, no. FS 489.147(6) says you may cancel 'without penalty or obligation,' the FTC rule says the same, and Florida's home-solicitation law adds that the seller may not keep any part of a cash down payment. Outside the windows, Florida enforces a cancellation fee only when it is a reasonable estimate of the contractor's actual loss, so a 25% or 35% fee on a job where nothing was ordered, permitted or built can be challenged as a penalty. Do not pay it on the spot; ask for the itemized basis in writing and talk to a lawyer or the Attorney General's office.

Yes. Both Florida's law and the FTC rule define a business day as any calendar day except Sunday or a federal holiday. Sign on a Friday and your deadline is midnight Tuesday (Saturday, Monday, Tuesday), unless a federal holiday falls in between. In the weeks after Isaias, Columbus Day (October 12, 2026), Veterans Day (November 11) and Thanksgiving (November 26) did not count.

Yes. FS 489.147(6) does not care who made first contact; it turns on when you signed, where your home is, and whether work has officially started. Florida's 3-day home-solicitation rule does exclude a sale that results from your own request for specific goods or services, but the FTC Cooling-Off Rule covers sales made at your home 'including those in response to or following an invitation by the buyer,' so a contract signed at your kitchen table after you called the number on a yard sign is still covered.

Send it by mail. For the storm rule, FS 489.147(6)(c) says the notice must be sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, or another form of mailing that provides proof, to the address in the contract. The 3-day rules speak of written notice delivered in person or mailed, with the postmark controlling. Email or text a photo of the signed letter the same day as a courtesy copy and as evidence, but do not rely on it alone.

No. Florida does not accept another state's roofing license; DBPR says contractors licensed elsewhere still need a Florida license to work on a Florida home. A contract with an unlicensed contractor is unenforceable by that contractor in law or in equity and carries no lien rights (FS 489.128), and unlicensed contracting during a declared state of emergency is a third-degree felony. Check any roofer at myfloridalicense.com: you want a current Florida certified roofing contractor license (prefix CCC), or, while DBPR's Isaias emergency order is in effect, a Florida-licensed general, building or residential contractor.

A construction lien secures payment for labor, services or materials actually furnished to your property. If nothing was furnished, there is nothing to lien, and a knowingly exaggerated or baseless claim of lien is a fraudulent lien under FS 713.31, which defeats the lien and exposes the filer to damages and attorney's fees. If a tarp went on or materials were delivered before you canceled, expect to pay a fair amount for that and insist on an itemized invoice. An unlicensed contractor has no lien rights at all.

No. The claim belongs to you, not the contractor: assignments of benefits are void on Florida property policies issued on or after January 1, 2023. Keep any photos or estimate the first company gave you (ask for them), tell your adjuster you have changed contractors, and have the new roofer give you the good-faith itemized estimate Florida requires with any repair authorization tied to a claim. Watch the clock: notice of a claim is due within 1 year of the date of loss, and a supplemental claim within 18 months (FS 627.70132).

Usually not. For a sale made at your home, the FTC rule makes it an unfair practice to put any waiver of the right to cancel in the contract or to misrepresent that right; the only waiver it recognizes is a separate, dated statement in your own handwriting describing a bona fide emergency. The 10-day storm right is written into Florida law and applies whether or not your contract mentions it. Send the letter anyway, and report a contractor who told you otherwise.

Need a licensed local roofer to take over?

Free inspection with a written photo report, an itemized written quote, and we pull the permit. No AOB, no deposit games, and we honor Florida's 10-day cancellation right on every contract we sign during a declared emergency. Verify us first: CCC1337480 at myfloridalicense.com.

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