Reno scam

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An important story for home owners, not only does Victoria Day weekend mark the unofficial start of summer, it’s also the start of home renovation season according to Consumer Protection Ontario. The Ministry is advertising tips on how to hire the right contractor, because so many people learn the hard way.

It’s often called the door to door game. You see a guy working on your neighbour’s house, he seems to be working hard doing a good job so you hire him to do the same thing at your house, so do your other neighbours who need similar jobs done. Why not? he’s in the neighbourhood already, he’ll give you a deal, but here’s why not.

Former CHCH reporter Fred Anderton and at least 5 other neighbours now know they were wrong about the man they hired to do concrete work. His name is Miguel Sarabando and he used the company name “Dryzone.” Anderton watched the contractor build the steps next door so he gave him a $3500 down payment to do the same at his house. Sarabando did some framing, 7 months ago. Anderton eventually realized he wasn’t coming back and cleaned up the mess in the front yard.

The neighbour’s steps, poured just last summer, are now cracking and Sarabando never did re-attach the porch steps. Then there’s the 2 neighbours behind. Harry Sran gave Sarabando $8500 to pave around his house, put a patio out back and a driveway out front. “That’s a lot of money. It is. I had to put it on my line of credit so now I’m paying interest on it, since he took it.”

Consumer Protection Ontario has a website full of tips on contractor scams, one of the top complaints the ministry gets. “We all lead such busy lives. We see someone working on our neighbour’s property, we need work done on ours, we think oh great I’ve found someone. But it’s really important that people do their homework.” Says Anne Marie from Consumer Services.

If  Sarabando did nothing at all, this would be fraud. But he did do some work so this is considered breach of contract. The Ministry of Consumer Services wants homeowners to report when this happens. Police want to know too. Unfortunately, lots of people are so embarrassed that they let their judgement lapse, they don’t report anything.

You can visit ontario.ca/consumers/consumer-protection-ontario for more information.