Lawsuits Allege IKO's Renaissance XL, Chateau Organic Roofing Shingles Fail Prematurely

Class action lawsuits have been filed against IKO Manufacturing alleging that the company's organic roofing shingles are defective and fail well before their useful life expectancies. According to the suits, defects in design and manufacture allow moisture, such as water or snow, to invade the shingles. This can cause the shingles to crack, blister, curl or blow off the roof, and can also damage interior walls, ceilings and other household structures. Plaintiffs claim they have spent thousands of dollars repairing or replacing their shingles and other damaged property, and are now filing lawsuits against IKO to recover compensation for these costs.

Are the organic IKO shingles on your home blistering, breaking or cracking prematurely? If so, you may be able to join a class action lawsuit and seek compensation for the cost of repairing or replacing your roof.

Why Is Moisture Invasion Such a Problem?

According to the lawsuits, the material in IKO’s organic roofing shingles is susceptible to becoming wet, moist or saturated, which can lead to further degradation when the moisture-damaged shingles go through repeated freeze and thaw cycles. With time, moisture invasion can cause the shingles to lose their ability to hold granules, which can subject the shingles to further water damage and cause them to lose shape or deform when drying in the sun.

Signs of moisture invasion include:

• Cracking
• Curling
• Blistering
• Fishmouthing
• Clawing
• Discoloration

Which Shingles Are Covered by the Lawsuits?

Property Owners Report Issues with Warranty Claims for Organic Roofing Shingles

Lawsuits allege that IKO’s organic shingles can fail well before their 20- to 50-year life expectancies. According to the plaintiffs, IKO failed to perform adequate tests on its shingles when determining the length of their warranty periods and falsely advertised its shingles as meeting specific industry standards that require manufacturers like IKO to have their products sampled, tested and analyzed.

Those who filed warranty claims over their organic IKO shingles allege that the warranty offers “woefully inadequate” compensation that does not fully cover the cost of replacement shingles, labor or disposal. The plaintiffs also allege that IKO purposely deters claimants by requiring property owners to submit information they typically do not have access to, such as:

• Proof of purchase of the shingles
• Date the shingles were installed
• Type and slope of the roof deck
• Photographs of the roof that were not taken using a digital camera
• Two full shingle samples, which must be removed by a roofing professional

Furthermore, property owners who accept an offer from IKO are required to sign a “Goodwill Release of Warranty,” which relieves the company from providing any compensation for future problems. As a result, property owners who refuse to sign the warranty waiver may spend thousands of dollars replacing their shingles and repairing damaged property.

The plaintiffs allege that IKO has received thousands of warranty claims over problems with its organic shingles since 1984 but failed to warn consumers about these problems or issue a recall for the products.

Who’s Covered by the Lawsuits?

The class action lawsuits seek to represent all individuals and entities that owned or acquired a property in the United States on which organic IKO shingles were installed since 1979.

In 2009, the class action lawsuits filed against IKO were consolidated to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois in a process known as multidistrict litigation (MDL) where the Honorable Judge Harold A. Baker will oversee the lawsuits. Even though an MDL has been formed for these cases, there is still time for other property owners to join this growing litigation.

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