Latest news with #contractors
CTV News
19 hours ago
- Business
- CTV News
Guelph homeowner loses thousands to alleged roofing scam
The Guelph Police Service is urging people to be wary of scammers posing as home repair contractors. The scheme comes in many forms, including workers who claim to be experts in roofing and driveway work. They often target older adults. In a recent case, Guelph Police said a resident living in the Old University area was targeted by a company claiming they could fix her roof. She paid the workers $3,500 in cash. The company then told the homeowner her chimney was also in urgent need of repairs, and it would cost approximately $14,000 to fix. When the homeowner went to the bank to withdraw the funds, bank staff warned her she was likely being targeted by scammers and urged her to contact police. The alleged roofers left her home, and she hired another company to repair her chimney. The $3,500 cash deposit was not returned.
CTV News
21 hours ago
- General
- CTV News
Police warn of summer home renovation and repair scams
With the calendar flipping to June this week, police in Barrie are warning residents to be aware of common scams involving summer renovations and repairs. In a notice by the Barrie Police Service (BPS), they explain that home renovation scams typically involve contractors overcharging, doing substandard work, or taking payments and disappearing without completing their job. Police say these scams can cost homeowners thousands of dollars and often leave properties in worse conditions than before. Renovation Scam Behaviours Common behaviours detailed by the BPS include lowball biding, storm chasing, licence or permit fraud, and unnecessary repairing. Police define lowball bidding as contractors offering unusually low estimates to win a job, then demanding more money during the project through fabricated issues or surprise costs. Storm chasers, according to police, target neighbourhoods after weather events, promising quick repairs without proper licencing or insurance. Scammers are also known to use fake licences or for failing to get required permits, resulting in homeowner liability. Unnecessary repair scammers tend to convince homeowners that urgent and expensive repair work is needed when it is not. Other red-flag behaviours listed by police include no physical address or company website, pressure for immediate action, and offers that seem to good to be true. Police advice The BPS urges homeowners to get multiple quotes and bids for a project, verify their contractor's licencing and insurance, check their contractor's reviews and references, and to use a written contract that outlines all the details of a project. In terms of payment, homeowners are urged to avoid giving large sums upfront, avoid paying before work starts, and to use checks or credit cards to keep a paper trail instead of using cash. Police say the standard upfront payment is between 10 and 30 per cent of a total project's cost. Chimney scam The BPS confirmed that they are aware of a scam in the city that involves chimney and home repair and are warning residents to be advised. Police urge homeowners to be cautious of contractors who show up uninvited and point out a problem with their home.
CTV News
2 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
Timmins expands roadwork operations
Timmins' construction season is in full swing, with the city doubling its roadwork plans thanks to favorable contractor rates, committing $5 million annually for three years to address potholes through 'shave and pave' projects. Lydia Chubak reports.
Globe and Mail
3 days ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
These 3 Dow Stocks Are Set to Soar in 2025 and Beyond
These are tricky times for investors. Oh, the market's never exactly easy to navigate. Things are proving particularly unpredictable right now, however. Some tickers are performing well when they seemingly shouldn't be, while others are lagging when they should be soaring. Never even mind all the uncertainty stemming from the ongoing tariff wars. If you can take a step back and look through all the near-term fuzziness at the bigger picture though, many of the market's long-term winners become clear. Three of its best bets right now, in fact, are blue chip stocks that help make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Here's a closer look at each one and why they're all likely to soar this year ... and beyond. 1. Home Depot At first blush, Home Depot (NYSE: HD) seems like a name to avoid right now. Consumers are feeling fiscally pinched, and mortgage loan rates are holding near multi-year highs. Both work against a home improvement retailer that relies on professional contractors for half of its revenue (which, of course, means the other half comes from consumers themselves). Be wary of jumping to conclusions based on a mere perception of data, however. Things may not be quite as dire as they appear at this time. Take, for instance, last month's sales of newly built homes. Despite the challenging economic environment, the U.S. Census Bureau reports April's new home sales reached a multi-year high annualized pace of 743,000 units. Meanwhile, the Conference Board's consumer-confidence measure for May bounced back quite a bit from April's plunge, with expectations that international trade deals will turn constructive again soon enough. Harvard University's Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA) index indicates that remodeling and home-upgrade outlays are likely to grow 2.5% through the first quarter of the coming year. That's not exactly thrilling, but it is a nice turnaround from last year's 1.5% dip. This stock's weakness since the beginning of the year doesn't reflect any of this upside. Just don't tarry if you want to capitalize on the mostly unmerited pullback. Even if you're not looking for dividend income right now, you'll be plugging in while this ticker's forward-looking dividend yield stands at a healthy 2.5%. That's not a bad little add-on perk for owning a stock that could -- and likely will -- start soaring at the first real hint of an economic rebound. It's just going to take a little patience. 2. Walt Disney Speaking of patience, there's a light at the end of the tunnel for Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) shareholders who've stuck with the entertainment stock through three long years of underperformance. What's changed? Almost everything, really. Take its streaming business as an example. After years of complicated and sometimes conflicted partial ownership of Hulu and the reporting of its specific results, the company is offloading this particular streaming service onto FuboTV so it can focus on its flagship platform Disney+. It's also still on schedule to debut a stand-alone streaming version of ESPN later this year, pitting it directly against its cable television partners that offer the very same programming. Although this could accelerate the cord-cutting movement that's already hurting Disney's other cable TV channels like The Disney Channel, National Geographic, Freeform, and broadcast network ABC, on balance, the company is better served by offering this sports-focused streaming service that consumers increasingly want. And this is all taking shape at a time when Disney's collective non-sports streaming services (likely led by Disney+) are starting to show a consistent operating income anyway. Connect the dots. The initial vision of sustainable streaming dominance is finally coming to fruition. In the meantime, higher theme park ticket prices don't appear to be deterring crowds even a little bit -- its parks are still as packed as they've ever been. During March, in fact, heavy spring break foot traffic meant its theme parks were forced to deny entry to many walk-up, would-be guests. To this end, last quarter's parks and experiences revenue improved another 9% year over year, driving a 13% uptick in operating income. It's encouraging simply because parks and experiences account for nearly 40% of Disney's total revenue and are its biggest profit producer, consistently accounting for more than half of its bottom line. There's still plenty to figure out to be sure, like its film business, which has lost its magic of late. But there's hope on this front as well. CEO Bob Iger commented in early May that the releases scheduled for the next 18 months are some of the best work Disney's movie studio has done since 2019. Bottom line? This is the regrouped Walt Disney Company the world's been waiting on. Now the stock just needs the right nudge. 3. Walmart Finally, add Walmart (NYSE: WMT) to your list of Dow stocks that could start climbing this year and continue climbing indefinitely. You know the company. Walmart is, of course, the world's biggest brick-and-mortar retailer, doing $681 billion worth of business last year, and turning $29.7 billion of that into operating income and about $20 billion in net income. Revenue improved 5.6% year over year, while profits jumped nearly 10% (and per-share profits grew a little more than 13% year over year). Both are extensions of well-established trends that should carry on at the same basic pace for at least the next few years. This alone isn't the reason you'll want to have a stake in Walmart while shares are still stuck in a bit of a rut since peaking in February, though. It's not easy to see unless you're looking for it. But the consumer/retailing landscape is changing. Value means more than brand again, and shoppers don't really care where or how they find value. That's why Walmart repeatedly reported market share growth among households earning in excess of $100,000 in 2023 and 2024 ... when inflation was relentless. The retailer's ongoing evolution isn't solely about value. It's delivering the convenience consumers are increasingly seeking by offering actual delivery. Last quarter's membership income (mostly from Walmart+ memberships) was up nearly 15% year over year. Although the company itself doesn't regularly report the number, it's easily in the tens of millions now and clearly still growing. Walmart also continues to blur the lines separating retailing, media, and advertising. Last year's worldwide advertising revenue reached $4.4 billion, up 27% year over year. While the bulk of that came from brands promoting their goods at the company's acquisition of connected-television brand Vizio, completed in December, opens the door to a new opportunity to connect itself and its vendors with nearly 20 million TV watchers. Simply put, this isn't the Walmart of yesteryear. This is a retailer that's quietly become a powerful omnichannel outfit that does digital about as well as any rival. The fact that it's bigger than any other brick-and-mortar retailer just means it enjoys an unfair advantage whenever it pulls one of the aforementioned growth levers. The market should start seeing -- and appreciating -- this not-so-subtle nuance sooner rather than later. Should you invest $1,000 in Home Depot right now? Before you buy stock in Home Depot, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Home Depot wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $651,049!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $828,224!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor 's total average return is979% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to171%for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of May 19, 2025
Forbes
4 days ago
- Health
- Forbes
What To Do If A Car Crashes Into Your House
My mother-in-law had just downsized from her charming but large house into a comfortable, brand new 2 bedroom in a lovely neighborhood. But the house happened to be positioned right where the street made a 'T.' Drivers would stop and make a left or a right. Within a week, a car was in her living room. An elderly driver stepped on the gas instead of the brake and 'it sounded like a bomb went off, "she said. Fortunately no one was hurt but of course it was a months-long process of paperwork, contractors and Peggy worrying every time she heard a car coming down the hill. Aylesbury,Bucks,UK - September 11th 2011. Car comes off the road and crashes into a house It's not a situation most people expect, but it happens more often than you'd think: a car crashes into a house. Whether it's a drunk driver, a medical emergency, or just someone who hit the wrong pedal, the result is chaos. Here's what you need to do immediately — and in the days that follow — to protect yourself, your home, and your sanity. Call 911 Immediately Your first move is to call 911 — even if the driver insists they're fine or tries to leave. You'll need police on the scene to document everything, and if there are any injuries (including your own), paramedics will be dispatched. Let the pros assess the situation. Even a small crash can compromise your home's structural integrity. Don't Enter the Impact Zone If the crash damaged a wall, foundation, or support beam, stay out of that part of the house until a building inspector or fire department clears it. One wrong move could bring down a ceiling or cause further collapse. Document, document, document Take photos and video from multiple angles. Capture damage to your house, the car's position, license plate, skid marks, debris, and anything else that tells the story. Write down what you remember right away — time, weather, noise, any details about the driver — because stress fogs memory fast. Exchange Info with the driver when appropriate Don't argue, don't accuse. Just gather facts. If the driver is uncooperative or flees the scene, let the police handle it. Notify Your Home Insurance Company Quickly File a claim ASAP. Even though the driver's auto insurance will likely pay for the damage (under their property liability coverage), your own homeowners insurance may help cover emergency repairs, hotel stays, or cleanup in the meantime. Ask your adjuster what's covered and when. Secure the Property Once emergency services give you the all-clear, board up any holes, broken windows or damaged doors to prevent theft or injury. If needed, hire a contractor or mitigation service to help with emergency repairs — and keep receipts for everything. Contact a Structural Engineer or Contractor Your insurance may send someone, but it's smart to have your own evaluation. Structural damage isn't always obvious. Cracks, bowed walls, or shifts in your foundation may not show up for weeks. Peggy, whose house was hit, discovered problems in the foundation months after the crash when a contractor was inspecting it. Get Legal Help If the damage is extensive or the driver was uninsured or underinsured, consult a lawyer. You may need help recovering full compensation. Also, if the crash caused emotional trauma — especially if you were home — don't underestimate your right to support. Be gentle with yourself for awhile Any crash is traumatic, but having your home hit is especially nerve-shattering. You might feel unsafe in your home for a while. That's normal. Get support if you need it — from a therapist, friends, or online communities. If you see a therapist, keep receipts to be presented when the time is right for reimbursement.
