Mississauga Contractor Convicted in Costly Home Renovation Incident

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Published January 24, 2019 at 8:07 pm

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A Mississauga contractor has been convicted after failing to provide a substantial refund to a customer.

The province recently announced that Maurizio Ercolani, owner of A.C. Milan Tile, has been convicted of failure to refund under Ontario’s Consumer Protection Act.

Ercolani pleaded guilty to the charge at the Ontario Court of Justice in Mississauga.

Ercolani received a suspended sentence following the plea. He’s also been given a two-year non-reporting probation order, and is now required to pay a $2,000 fine and pay an additional $7,000 in restitution to consumers.

As for the incident itself, the province says customers from Mississauga entered into a contract with Ercolani for home renovations totalling $21,000. As the project progressed, the consumers paid $10,850.

After about 10 weeks, the consumers sent a cancellation letter to Ercolani asking for a refund.

The court says the customer’s money was not refunded within 15 days after they gave notice of cancellation as required under the act.

As a result of the incident, Ercolani is now on the province’s Consumer’s Beware List.

Ontario’s Consumer Protection Act provides for fines of up to $250,000 for corporations per charge and $50,000 per charge for individuals convicted of offences. It also provides for jail terms of up to two years less a day for each offence for individuals.

Consumer Protection Ontario reminds consumers to pay no more than a 10 per cent deposit and visit the Consumer’s Beware List before entering into a contract with any company.

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