GTA contractor sued 11 times because homeowners left 'disgusted'

When Paul and Teresa Polivieu moved into their new home in Kleinburg, Ont., they thought about hosting family and friends in the backyard.

Last May, the couple hired Gianni (John) Evangelist of Liberty Pools to bring this vision to life by extending their enclosed driveway and adding a side path to their all-stone backyard with new concrete steps and a shaded wooden canopy.

It was supposed to be a two-week job, Paul Polivieu said.

Almost a year and more than $72,000 later, the house has gravel on the side and back, no rocks. There is no roof, only four poles on the ground. The backyard steps were finished, but the family hired another company to level them.

The widening of the road was partially completed with the help of stones that Poliviu thought were of the wrong size and color.

“I look at it and I'm disgusted,” he said.

Eight months after the project began, the family filed a fraud complaint with York Regional Police, saying Freedom Pools took their money and went out of business — and they're not the only Greater Toronto Area homeowners who say they've had a bad experience with Evangelisti. and his companies in Vaughan: Freedom Pools and JL Landscape & Design.

A sample of disputes on work in progress

CBC Toronto spoke with four families who said they hired one of Evanggelist to install or landscape their in-ground pools between 2017 and 2023. In total, the families say they paid more than $200,000.

One family says he was fired after a week, claiming Evangelisti did not perform as promised. For the other three, Evangelisti's company would start work and then not return for days, sometimes months, stretching out the jobs and effectively leaving them in various states of completion.

CBC Toronto has reviewed emails and texts that show Polyviou and other homeowners have repeatedly complained about the lack of progress. An evangelist and a Freedom Pools employee promised multiple messages that workers would show up, but the homeowners say no one did.

CBC Toronto said two of the homeowners have taken legal action against Evangelisti, and three have reported him to the police.

Aurora residents Rimas and Victoria Jocevicia sued Evangelisti and JL Landscape & Design in 2017 for a $15,000 security deposit, alleging breach of contract and damage to their property.

The family hired him to install a pool, but he claims they fired him after six hours of work in the first week, but refused a refund. They reached a settlement in which the couple agreed to remove negative online comments in exchange for $10,000. He says he never paid and the reviews stay online.

Last month, Maple Homes owners Ayelet and Michael Kushnirsky received a default judgment for $9,000 after claiming Evangelisti received money for unfinished work and undelivered pool equipment and failed to meet deadlines, causing “loss of use, pain and distress.”

They hired Freedom Pools to install and landscape the pool in July 2021. As of March 2023, the Kushnirskis say the liner and blocking were still unfinished, and the pool equipment they paid for was never delivered. They decided to hire another company to complete the job in two weeks.

“We have to save other families,” Kushnirsky said.

“It's caused so much friction, so much stress, so much anxiety, so many (many) sleepless nights for something that should be so simple,” Polivieu said.

In a letter to CBC Toronto, Evangelisti did not respond to the families' specific allegations, but denied any wrongdoing and said the landlords were to blame for the late payments and change requests.

Tanya Walker, a lawyer who specializes in these cases, said that if homeowners can't resolve disputes with contractors over incomplete or missing work, they have no choice but to sue, but even if they win, they won't be compensated. coin

“You're trying to collect money and file a lien on a contractor's home or garnish bank accounts, assets,” Walker said.

“It can be very difficult and it can collect nothing or very little.”

A pile of lawsuits, unpaid debts

Court records show Evangelisti and his companies were sued by at least 11 former customers and companies between 2017 and 2023.

This includes the Yocevicia and Kushnirsky cases, as well as two civil cases in Ontario Superior Court and two other small claims lawsuits in which homeowners who hired Freedom Pools to install pools make similar claims for delayed or incomplete projects.

In the case of a Richmond Hill homeowner trying to recover $153,500, the contractor blamed a delay in getting drawings from a landscape designer, saying the company was “ready to meet its contractual obligations.”

Two other homeowners who filed small claims lawsuits over unfinished pool projects each received default judgments in their favor after neither Evangelisti nor his companies filed a statement of defense.

Asked whether the force was investigating complaints against Evangelisti or his companies, a York Regional Police spokesman said it would not comment on ongoing investigations or identify the subjects of the investigation.

Const. According to Lisa Moskalyuk, disputes between contractors and customers are often civil in nature, but if there is a pattern of similar complaints, in each case the police may be charged criminally.

“If some work is completed, but it's not satisfactory, and the contractor's information and company is legitimate, it's more prone to civil litigation,” Moskaluk said.

Evangelists will not face any criminal charges.

“He's been missing for months”

Polyviv signed a contract for $87,000, including taxes, and paid a $26,103 deposit when they hired Freedom Pools on May 2, 2023. Bank records show they paid another $26,103 on May 8. Pollyview says that work began soon after, but suddenly stopped. at the end of May.

“That's when he went to the MIA,” Polivieu said. “He's been missing for months.”

He said the workers returned to work for “three or four days” at the end of August, after which the company demanded more money.

On Aug. 29, an employee told Polivieu in an email that she was behind on payments and that the money she paid “doesn't cover what we did and what we had to buy, and we don't really replace jobs.”

Polivieu paid another $20,000 that day after the company said it wanted to finish the job within a week. However, after cashing that check, he says the workers didn't return until October when they worked for a couple of days, but the work was left unfinished.

They say that even after half a year, no more work has been done.

In November, Poliviu sued Evangelisti and Freedom Pools for $57,000 in refunds after another company did less than a quarter of the work. They say they don't have it.

Evangelist and Polivia are at odds over who is to blame.

In a letter to the client, Evangelisti asked the subdivision's developer for permission to change the estimate, blaming Poliviu for pushing the project back by five to six weeks. Freedom Pools also said there was a delay in receiving materials from the supplier.

Clients agree to a payment structure: contractor

Evangelisti Freedom Pools uses a payment structure divided into five payments: deposit, start of work, once excavation is complete, once the pool is set up and ready to install the interlock, and a final payment upon completion.

“The payment structure is provided to clients before any work begins and is completely removed by the landlord via email,” Evangelisti told CBC Toronto in an email.

“I have not received products that A) (sic) cannot be accounted for B) delivered and installed.”

Evangelisti promised to provide CBC Toronto with documents showing the homeowners were at fault.

Instead, he filed a motion with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Toronto to prevent the story from being published, arguing that the consumer complaints were “frivolous and hurtful and untrue.”

In a court filing, Evangelisti said it is preparing a lawsuit against the Kushnirskys, Polivus and another Toronto-based CBC family “for contractual balances and non-performance of financial covenants.”

At the April 8 court hearing, he told the judge that 90-95 percent of the work on these projects was completed. He also said he has responded to all lawsuits against him, and in some cases has entered into settlements or filed statements of defense.

In three other small claims lawsuits involving pool projects, including Yocevicia, Evangelisti said it has filed or will file motions to set aside any default judgments and proceed to a settlement conference or trial. He also noted the problems in court order in some cases.

Evangelisti said she felt her former customers were “definitely trying to hurt me,” and told the judge, “I feel like I'm being picked on.”

Judge Robert Senta denied Evangelisti's request.

In his ruling, Senta described the contractor's legal action as “no more than an attempt to silence journalists trying to report on an important story of public interest.”

He said Evangelisti's naming of its former customers as respondents in the case “seems to be an attempt to intimidate and silence those who speak to the media about concerns about the petitioners' business practices.”

Evangelisti said he will appeal the decision.