"How Come It's News When a Contractor Rips off a Homeowner..."

"...But Never When the Reverse Occurs?"

The headline in the Toronto Star, "Stranded homeowners, employees hold protest at house of failed homebuilder", attracted a lot of attention earlier this week, and soon four TV stations were covering the picketing.

Outside the home of Adam Gardin, owner of GarCon Building Group, clients who wanted their deposit money back, plus employees and contractors who say they are owed tens of thousands in wages, held up signs that called Gardin, essentially, a crook. Gardin, in emails to the Star, and later, CityTV News, said that he had NOT committed “fraud.” Gardin admitted only to being a poor businessman. He said he was “extremely remorseful” to leave so many homeowners and trades in the lurch. At the protest, no one seemed to be buying his story. He was simply a scam artist, some of them said.

My question on this news item is this. How long before the Ontario College of Trades gets involved? They have to be rubbing their hands in glee, ready to manipulate a bad situation to their advantage and use this to force more contractors into their money losing organization? Will they use this as another opportunity to rally everyone over the need for more regulations in the industry?

But what if the roles were reversed, and it was the homeowner who didn’t want to pay the contractor who did the work? Who would be on the contractors side then? Definitely any of the regulatory authorities in our industry. Funny how that works, huh?

CARAHS has successfully mediated and helped resolve issues between our member contractors and their homeowner customers. No matter the years that a contractor has been in business, bad apples always appear, especially when it comes time for contractors to ask the homeowners for their money.

I’m sure there are lots of contractors out there right now who’ve faced homeowners who try to wriggle out of paying what’s due. You don’t see headlines in the Toronto Star and others declaring: Homeowner rips off honest hard working contractors.

Maybe we need a web site listing homeowners who don’t pay. Now there’s an idea!!! Let us know us what you think!