Beware renovation scams
CALGARY (CP) — They ripped out the back steps, they dug a trench around the house, and Karolye Regan became their prisoner.
The 88-year-old had hired what she thought were tradesmen to repair a leaky eavestrough. She ended up the victim of renovation scam artists who did thousands of dollars of unnecessary work on her Vancouver home and put a $9,800 lien on it when she refused to pay.
Eventually Regan landed in hospital with a heart attack and had to pay $17,000 to fix her yard and clear the lien.
The company is still in business, under a new name.
“It hurt me more than anything, to think I fell for it,” Regan said. “It really shook me up.”
The business of ripping off seniors for so-called renovations is escalating across Canada, police say.
“Once they find a senior who is easily victimized, over a period of time they will feast on them like a piranha,” said Det. Mark Fritsch of the Edmonton police economic crime section.
Spring is the busiest season for most reno-scammers, but an economic boom in Alberta has kept them busthng year-round; credible renovators are busy, leaving room for swindlers.
“It’s been growing over the last three years,” said Stephen Louie, investigations manager for Alberta’s housing and consumer affairs division.
Most reno-scam companies are transient, fly-by-nighters without business licences. They slap a sign on the truck, print bogus ID, and they’re in business.
Sometimes they overcharge for repairs; they take things apart and put them back together again; they take large down payments and disappear. And for that, an experienced con artist makes up to $500,000 a year, Fritsch said.
Most targets are widowed women who live alone and are too infirm to fix things themselves. They are tracked through obituaries and building permits, or simply by door-knocking in older neighborhoods.
According to Fritsch, “suckers lists” of seniors who have been conned at least once are bought and sold between reno-scammers.
Valerie MacLean of Vancouver’s Better Business Bureau said some even threaten seniors with violence.
“They are very physically intimidating,” she said. “They are in their home and threaten them and seniors can’t even get rid of them sometimes.”
Most seniors who get scammed don’t report the crime.
“They are very embarrassed they’ve been taken,” said Jim Hittel, prosecutor for the city of Calgary. "They are reluctant to complain because they are afraid their children will put them in a seniors’ home.”
Those who do go to police often get frustrated. Sgt. Bob Meanley of Vancouver’s commercial crime unit said it’s difficult to make a fraud charge stick because one usually has to prove the renovator had no intention of doing any work.
“Most often there is some work done, but it’s either overpriced or the work is poorly performed,” Meanley said. “Then that takes us out of the ball park.”
But Det. Bill Whiteside of the Toronto police fraud squad says his department has persuaded prosecutors to take cases that might be considered flimsy in other parts of Canada. They have even jailed renovators for repeatedly overcharging.
“When you can show there’s a pattern of activity, it’s our interpretation it’s fraud,” Whiteside said.
Alberta is putting together a national system to try to change track scammers.
The system would give authorities in all provinces information such as bankruptcies, court convictions and aliases used by unscrupulous companies.
“In this very orchestrated attempt to rip off seniors, we are trying to orchestrate a few things to catch them.” said Rob Phillips of the housing and consumer affairs division.
CALGARY (CP) — They ripped out the back steps, they dug a trench around the house, and Karolye Regan became their prisoner.
The 88-year-old had hired what she thought were tradesmen to repair a leaky eavestrough. She ended up the victim of renovation scam artists who did thousands of dollars of unnecessary work on her Vancouver home and put a $9,800 lien on it when she refused to pay.
Eventually Regan landed in hospital with a heart attack and had to pay $17,000 to fix her yard and clear the lien.
The company is still in business, under a new name.
“It hurt me more than anything, to think I fell for it,” Regan said. “It really shook me up.”
The business of ripping off seniors for so-called renovations is escalating across Canada, police say.
“Once they find a senior who is easily victimized, over a period of time they will feast on them like a piranha,” said Det. Mark Fritsch of the Edmonton police economic crime section.
Spring is the busiest season for most reno-scammers, but an economic boom in Alberta has kept them busthng year-round; credible renovators are busy, leaving room for swindlers.
“It’s been growing over the last three years,” said Stephen Louie, investigations manager for Alberta’s housing and consumer affairs division.
Most reno-scam companies are transient, fly-by-nighters without business licences. They slap a sign on the truck, print bogus ID, and they’re in business.
Sometimes they overcharge for repairs; they take things apart and put them back together again; they take large down payments and disappear. And for that, an experienced con artist makes up to $500,000 a year, Fritsch said.
Most targets are widowed women who live alone and are too infirm to fix things themselves. They are tracked through obituaries and building permits, or simply by door-knocking in older neighborhoods.
According to Fritsch, “suckers lists” of seniors who have been conned at least once are bought and sold between reno-scammers.
Valerie MacLean of Vancouver’s Better Business Bureau said some even threaten seniors with violence.
“They are very physically intimidating,” she said. “They are in their home and threaten them and seniors can’t even get rid of them sometimes.”
Most seniors who get scammed don’t report the crime.
“They are very embarrassed they’ve been taken,” said Jim Hittel, prosecutor for the city of Calgary. "They are reluctant to complain because they are afraid their children will put them in a seniors’ home.”
Those who do go to police often get frustrated. Sgt. Bob Meanley of Vancouver’s commercial crime unit said it’s difficult to make a fraud charge stick because one usually has to prove the renovator had no intention of doing any work.
“Most often there is some work done, but it’s either overpriced or the work is poorly performed,” Meanley said. “Then that takes us out of the ball park.”
But Det. Bill Whiteside of the Toronto police fraud squad says his department has persuaded prosecutors to take cases that might be considered flimsy in other parts of Canada. They have even jailed renovators for repeatedly overcharging.
“When you can show there’s a pattern of activity, it’s our interpretation it’s fraud,” Whiteside said.
Alberta is putting together a national system to try to change track scammers.
The system would give authorities in all provinces information such as bankruptcies, court convictions and aliases used by unscrupulous companies.
“In this very orchestrated attempt to rip off seniors, we are trying to orchestrate a few things to catch them.” said Rob Phillips of the housing and consumer affairs division.
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