'Elaborate scam' leaves seniors with high-interest mortgages they didn't want or understand

Some seniors are at risk of losing their homes in a scheme involving door-to-door equipment rental contracts, questionable renovations and mortgages worth hundreds of thousands of dollars that many didn’t know they had and can’t afford, a Marketplace investigation has found.

Lawyers familiar with the situation say there are potentially hundreds of victims throughout Ontario — in what one called an “elaborate scam.”

“These homeowners are at risk of homelessness and the loss of their life savings and the entire equity in their homes,” said Graham Webb, the executive director of the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly (ACE), a legal aid clinic