I contracted with a heating contractor to change our furnace from oil to gas.
I told the contractor I wanted a cirtificate of insurance before he started any work. He said he would get it asap, now he doesn’t want to get me the cirt. and he refuses to return a $300.00
deposit we gave him. Please advise, I’m from Miami, Fl. and don’t know anybody here to advise me . rrai2 [at] rogers.com

Regards,
Rodney Arnold

There’s not much anyone can do with these home renovation scams when laws protect the contractors rather than the homeowners. They say that as long as the contractor does work in or around the vicinity of your home it’s a civil matter.

It depends on what kind of “scam” it is. In Toronto, if the contractor is operating without a license, that’s a charge that will stick. On the other hand, if it’s a shoddy workmanship or incomplete work, that ’s a civil matter just like it would be for any other type of non home improvement contractor - at the moment.

Mike’s general interest is first educating the public about what to look out for in these home renovation con-artists …

Agreed! He does a wonderful job!

… and then to change consumer laws to protect homeowners.

Now this is news to me … but I would love hear more! My Google searches haven’t turned up anything on that. Celeste can you send me a link? To sandra [at] renovine.com. Thanks.

It would make sense if Mike Holmes was actively involved in some sort of consumer action for legislative change but on the other hand, he already has a lot on his plate and it’s a lot of work, he’s got an empire to run, I don’t think he’s taken that on as of yet. If the story was out there, it should turn up on routine Google searches or in his PR.

But Mike if you’ve got the ear of government, tell ‘em they need to enact laws like New York City (I Love NY!! The NYC Department of Consumer Affairs rocks!)

The DCA vigorously enforces City rules that protect consumers stuck with unfinished, shoddy work by home improvement contractors (HICs). The number one targets of complaints received at the DCA are HICs who renege on their contracts, or work without a license.

Licensed contractors must … contribute $200 to the Home Improvement Contractor Trust Fund at the time of application and each time they renew, or post a bond. The DCA’s Home Improvement Trust Fund reimburses homeowners – up to a maximum of $15,000 – who hired a licensed contractor that subsequently damaged their home and went out of business or left town.

It’s like “insurance” for your renovation and the contractors pay for it! IF you hire a licensed contractor.  Which goes back to doing your homework before you hire.

What is the city of Toronto doing? It’s obvious they are part of this scam by allowing people like Mr. Reis to continue operating within their city limits.

Alain, I can understand your absolute frustration with the situation. However, I’m not I can agree that City Hall is part of the scam, as tempting as it might be. More like “errors of omission”.

Toronto City Hall is a big bureaucracy where sometimes the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing. First of all, for City Hall to be aware of a contractor “operating within their city limits”, the contractor has to register for a Building Renovator license. That’s how they get in the system. But if Max Pies didn’t register (as per Marketplace), tended to actually subcontract the work, and avoided getting building permits, how would City Hall know about them? And if homeowners aren’t checking on contractors before they hire, I can begin to see how a Max Pies / Leo Dos Reis would be able to get away with what he did for so long. Toronto doesn’t have easy access to contractor license info online like other major cities/states (New York City, California).

Toronto City Hall does record contractor complaints … but if the company isn’t in the system, then where does the complaint go? I will look into it. The Consumer Beware database is not attached to Toronto City Hall.

I like Mike Holmes but he’s not a lawyer and when you have a guy like Mike who can tell you that no charges really sticks because of the way the laws are designed, THAT should be a red flag to city halls across the country and start a crackdown.

I like Mike Holmes too … but I think some of his statements are generalizations. Having gone through the Consumer Beware database (just for fun over here at RenoCheck.com ), there have been convictions. I’m sure he has good reasons for his assertions but it would be helpful to understand why “charges don’t stick”. I will look into that also.

The thing I wonder about (and this will be a future blog post) is that Mike Holmes himself has probably received more complaints about Max Pies and bad contractors than City Hall or the Consumer Beware database combined, long before the Marketplace episode was taped and broadcast. To quote Wendy Mesley “[Mike Holmes] gets more than a 1000 emails a week from people complaining about shoddy workmanship”. That’s a lot of complaints. But as the policy on his show is to never name the bad contractors, in a perverse way, his “silence” has also allowed these bad contractors to keep going, including Max Pies. It’s Marketplace we have to thank for putting Max Pies out of business (for now anyway); they dared to name names.

My question is this: Is city hall part of this scam? If they’re not, then they should start to crack down.

The reason there hasn’t been a major crackdown is because, believe it or not, things just haven’t got bad enough in Toronto. Not enough people are complaining to the right channels for the resources to be allocated to begin to solve the problem or for the laws to be changed.

Complaining to Mike Holmes may make for educational television but it doesn’t change laws or get resources allocated for enforcement / prevention. We have to complain to our local governments and en masse. New York City had worse problems, more complaints, and probably more of an outcry. Now New Yorkers also have better legal protection. Same with the state of California and the California Licensing Board. But it’s still not enough, resources to support the laws are always a challenge, even when the laws have been put in place. Homeowners cannot realistically expect the government to do everything for them. The best thing we can do to protect ourselves is to get educated and do our homework before we hire.

I hope this guy gets nailed to the wall. I cannot believe, how he can con innocent people out of their hard earned money. I called Max Pies with this # 1-416-999-9659. I ask for Max pies and the man informed me this is the wrong #.

David, it looks like Max Pies is out of business, for now. The infamous Max Pies website is gone and so is the one for Platinum Home Renovations. Mr. Dos Reis seems to be laying low but no conviction has been posted as of yet in the Consumer Beware database.

With it being such a high profile case and the evidence on tape, I am hoping they get a conviction.