Homeowners have filed multiple class action lawsuits against TAMKO Building Products alleging that its Heritage line of fiberglass asphalt shingles cracks, curls, blisters, and loses granules years before the 30- to 50-year warranties promise. None of those cases has produced a certified class or a settlement. Federal courts in Florida, Illinois, and Kansas have each refused to certify, and law firms that once solicited claimants have stopped taking new ones. If you have failing Heritage shingles, the practical route now is an individual warranty claim, and possibly individual litigation, not joining a class.
What Homeowners Say Is Wrong With the Shingles
The complaints target TAMKO’s Heritage family broadly, including Heritage, Heritage Premium, Heritage Vintage, Heritage Woodgate, Heritage 30, Heritage 50, Heritage StormFighter AR, and Heritage WindFighter.{} Plaintiffs allege a common manufacturing flaw: insufficient asphalt, which they say leaves the shingles brittle and prone to failing well before the warranty runs out.{1Berger Montague. Tamko Amended Complaint}
The reported symptoms are premature cracking, curling, blistering, delamination, and degranulation, which is the loss of the ceramic mineral granules that shield the shingle from UV and weather. According to the complaints, shingles in this condition fail to seal, absorb moisture, and let water into the roof deck, causing rot, mold, and interior damage to ceilings, walls, and floors.{2Top Class Actions. Class Action Alleges Leaky Roofs Caused by Defective Tamko Shingles}{3Morgan & Morgan. Tamko Laminated Asphalt Shingles Lawsuit}
The lawsuits also accuse TAMKO of never testing the longevity of its shingles despite marketing warranties as long as 50 years, of concealing the defects from consumers, and of frustrating warranty claims by limiting recoveries to replacement shingles without covering the labor to install them.{4ClassAction.org. Tamko Roofing Shingles Lawsuit}
Why No Class Has Been Certified
Three federal courts have separately refused to let these cases proceed as class actions. The reasoning has been consistent: too many variables from one homeowner to the next.
In Hummel v. Tamko Building Products, Inc. (M.D. Fla., Case No. 6:15-cv-910), Judge Paul Gregory Byron denied class certification on September 7, 2017. He ruled that individual issues permeated every claim.{5Bloomberg Law. No Class Certification in Tamko Roofing Defect Case} Proving breach of the express warranty required showing each homeowner gave TAMKO timely notice. Strict liability claims required evidence tied to the manufacturing history of each batch. Negligence claims were tangled with environmental exposure and homeowner conduct that could independently cause damage.{6CaseMine. Hummel v. Tamko Building Products, Inc.}
In Disher et al. v. Tamko Building Products, Inc. (S.D. Ill., Case No. 14-cv-740), the court denied class certification as moot by May 2018 after TAMKO compelled one named plaintiff into arbitration and the other named plaintiffs lost their live claims. Counsel was given a short window to substitute a new named plaintiff; the record does not show the case moving forward after that.{7CaseMine. Disher v. Tamko Building Products, Inc.}
The largest case, filed in December 2015 as Snyder v. Tamko in the Eastern District of California and later transferred to the District of Kansas as Melnick et al v. Tamko Building Products, Inc. (Case No. 19-2630), met the same fate. On March 27, 2024, Judge Julie A. Robinson denied class certification, finding that common issues did not predominate. The court also granted TAMKO summary judgment in part on the same day, though claims by the Melnicks and portions of others’ claims survived. A July 2024 order confirmed the certification denial.{8GovInfo. Melnick et al v. Tamko Building Products, Inc.}
The Arbitration Clause That Blocks Many Homeowners
Before certification is even reached, many TAMKO cases run into a threshold obstacle. TAMKO prints a mandatory arbitration clause on the outside of every bundle of Heritage shingles. It requires binding individual arbitration and bars class actions.{9TAMKO. TAMKO Fiberglass Asphalt Shingle Limited Warranty} Whether that clause binds a homeowner has split the courts.
The Eleventh Circuit in Dye v. Tamko (2018) enforced it, treating the packaging as a “shrinkwrap” agreement and holding that the roofer’s acceptance bound the homeowner who had delegated purchasing to the contractor.{10Global Arbitration News. U.S. Eleventh Circuit Upholds Enforceability of a Mandatory Arbitration Provision in a Shrinkwrap Agreement on Shingle Packaging} A North Carolina federal court reached the same result in Krusch v. TAMKO (2014).{11U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. Krusch v. TAMKO Building Products, Inc.}
Other courts have refused. The Missouri Court of Appeals in Hobbs v. Tamko (2015) held that no agreement existed because the homeowners never saw the packaging and the wrappers were discarded by the installer.{12CaseMine. Hobbs v. Tamko Building Products, Inc.} A Kansas federal court in Nelson v. Tamko (2015) denied arbitration on evidentiary grounds.{13CaseMine. Nelson v. Tamko Building Products, Inc.}
The most consequential ruling came from the Supreme Court of Oklahoma on October 1, 2019, in Williams v. TAMKO Building Products, Inc. The court refused to compel arbitration, holding that contractors’ authority to select and install shingles did not extend to waiving the homeowners’ constitutional right to a jury trial. It found the clause unconscionable, describing it as an adhesion contract “intentionally printed on material destined for garbage” and “so one-sided as to oppress or unfairly surprise” the homeowner.{14U.S. Supreme Court. Appendix to Tamko Certiorari Petition} The U.S. Supreme Court denied TAMKO’s petition for review on May 4, 2020, leaving the Oklahoma decision standing.{15SCOTUSblog. TAMKO Building Products Inc. v. Williams}
The upshot: whether TAMKO can push you into individual arbitration often depends on your state’s law and the specific facts of how your shingles were purchased and installed. Homeowners who never personally opened a bundle have the stronger argument.
What You Can Still Do
With no active class and no settlement fund, the immediate path for a homeowner with failing Heritage shingles is TAMKO’s warranty process. TAMKO requires notice within 30 days of discovering a problem. Claims can be started at tamko.com/warrantycenter or by calling 800-441-7190. Telling your contractor or builder does not count as notice to TAMKO.{9TAMKO. TAMKO Fiberglass Asphalt Shingle Limited Warranty}
TAMKO will typically ask for documentary proof of purchase, a completed warranty questionnaire, photographs, and physical shingle samples, and will want reasonable access for a roof inspection. Do not replace or repair the shingles before the claim is resolved unless TAMKO gives written authorization, because doing so can void the claim.{9TAMKO. TAMKO Fiberglass Asphalt Shingle Limited Warranty}
Know what the warranty pays. Under the current terms effective August 1, 2024, laminated shingles on single-family homes carry a “Limited Lifetime” term. Reasonable material and labor are covered for the first ten years. After year ten, labor is excluded, and material coverage drops two percent per year through year 40, then holds at 20 percent of replacement cost for the rest of the warranty period. The warranty also imposes a one-year statute of limitations on legal action, disclaims consequential and incidental damages, and states that if the arbitration clause or class action waiver is ever found invalid, the entire warranty is void and the shingles are treated as sold “as-is.”{9TAMKO. TAMKO Fiberglass Asphalt Shingle Limited Warranty} Coverage can be transferred once, only within the first five years, with written notice to TAMKO within 30 days of the sale.{16TAMKO. TAMKO Fiberglass Asphalt Shingle Limited Warranty}
Whether or not you file a warranty claim, document everything. Photograph visible damage. Keep purchase records, installation invoices, and any correspondence with your contractor or with TAMKO. There is no active product recall on Heritage shingles as of 2026.{3Morgan & Morgan. Tamko Laminated Asphalt Shingles Lawsuit}
Where Things Stand Now
No class has been certified in any TAMKO Heritage shingles lawsuit, in any court. No public settlement fund exists. Some individual claims in Melnick remained alive in the District of Kansas as of mid-2024, but the class-wide effort there was denied.{8GovInfo. Melnick et al v. Tamko Building Products, Inc.}
Firms that previously investigated and solicited claimants have wound down. ClassAction.org reports it has finished its investigation and is no longer accepting new claimants as of early 2026.{4ClassAction.org. Tamko Roofing Shingles Lawsuit} Morgan & Morgan has also stopped handling these cases.{3Morgan & Morgan. Tamko Laminated Asphalt Shingles Lawsuit} Homeowners who believe they have a claim will likely need to pursue it individually, through the warranty process or through their own counsel, subject to whatever arbitration outcome their state’s courts would reach.