It is a custom of spring in Toronto.
With the disappearance of ice and snow, the demand for roofing repairs raises, along with roofing frauds posing a risk to house owners.
Personnel disguised as roofing contractors are infamous for knocking on homeowners’ doorways and offering to inspect their roofs at no price. Then they would assert issues with the roof before demanding upfront charges for repair service.
This kind of fraudulent scam has been widespread in East York courting back again several decades. The Toronto Observer has documented several stories on roofing cons in the neighborhood, these kinds of as when seniors and their houses were being qualified again in March 2014.
“It’s a superior plan to thoroughly exploration any roofing enterprise you are considering to make absolutely sure it is very well-acknowledged and effectively-reviewed.”
said in a publish by AccuSeal Roofing Ltd.
The newest incident happened final thirty day period, when a man allegedly posed as a roofer when offering to inspect a roof in Riverdale he himself broken.
Police say home owners read loud banging on the roof of their house at Langley and Logan avenues prior to the man arrived again down and informed them about a hole in their roof.
The person encouraged he could mend it at a price prior to leaving the space, according to law enforcement.
The home owners later on checked their roof and noticed the destruction.
Afterwards, Toronto Police arrested 21-calendar year-previous James O’Brien for mischief/destruction to home not exceeding $5,000.
Paul Indrigo, a Toronto authentic estate agent and host of the Serious Estate Podcast Demonstrate, has noticed contractor ripoffs come about for lots of a long time.
“Sadly, it’s not acquiring any better,” Indrigo mentioned. “The unhappy reality is there is always likely to be bad folks. Each field has them.”
Spotting a roofing fraud
In a publish shared by AccuSeal Roofing Ltd., a roofing firm in Toronto, the common roofing scam “sees the contractor agree to substitute or fix the roof but necessitates the consumer to pay back upfront.”
They say reliable firms do not question home owners for any payment upfront and the inspections are complementary.
“It’s a great strategy to thoroughly study any roofing corporation you are looking at to make guaranteed it is nicely-recognised and well-reviewed,” the article reported.
AccuSeal also advises house owners to be wary of organizations inquiring for funds. It is a typical kind of payment made use of by experienced scammers considering that it’s hard to trace.
Indrigo designed a software, the Renovation Bootcamp Practical experience, to reward home owners who “do their research just before at any time employing any individual.”
“Helping to defend individuals from those scammers is what I have tried to do,” Indrigo stated. “I created it my objective to help guard my purchasers in the approach.”
Current conditions of roofing rip-off
In Nov. 2022, CityNews reported a couple in Toronto’s east end compensated alleged contractors $6,000 upfront in dollars, right after they had been encouraged on many problems relating to their roof and eavestroughs.
“We advised them we could publish them a examine, but they produced a massive deal about money staying greater, so I went to the financial institution and received the dollars,” the girl told CityNews at the time.
The staff advised the couple they would start out the career the following working day. Hours afterwards, the partner determined to analyze the roof and eavestroughs, but noticed no troubles.
They quickly known as to cancel the venture and requested a refund of the deposit they put. Quite a few weeks afterwards, the funds ended up never ever returned as promised by the employees.
Close to the same time, CityNews documented on a very similar incident that occurred a few blocks from the place the pair life.
The household was informed a raccoon was noticed on their roof and compensated the alleged contractors $1,000 for repair. M.B. Roofing and Masonry is the corporation involved in equally instances, whose detailed tackle was a P.O. Box at a UPS retail store.