A man got the surprise of his life when he found out his roof had been completely renovated – without him asking.
Mario Joly, a Montreal resident who was breaking up with his partner, received a call from her explaining that the roof of their residence had been completely replaced.
“She thought maybe I was the one who asked,” Mr. Joly said. “We never asked to renovate it, we wanted to sell the house as such.”
A short time later, Mr. Joly learned that although a contractor had come to do renovation work on his roof, he had come to the wrong house.
“He panicked a little bit because he wasn’t at the right address,” Mr. Joly said.
Mr Joly explains that the error occurred when no one was at home and that his ex-partner only noticed it when she returned from work.
Does he have recourse?
Regardless of the nature of the defect, the contractor is now demanding from Mr. Joly the quantity of materials used to carry out the work.
“The problem is I didn’t ask for anything,” Mr. Joly says. “I wasn’t willing to spend $5,000 or $8,000.”
Lawyer Éric Lamontagne explains that since Mr Joly has not concluded a “contract with the contractor”, he is entitled to refuse payment for the work carried out at his residence.
“Regardless of the condition of the roof, it cannot be assumed that Mr. Joly would have needed a new roof,” explains the lawyer.
In addition, Maître Lamontagne emphasizes that Mr. Joly is also entitled to a guarantee linked to these works on the roof.
Watch the full interview in the video above.