Who's at your door?: Homeowners allegedly exploited by Ontario company

In its documentary 'Who's At Your Door?', CTV W5 investigates companies that allegedly trick homeowners into signing long-term contracts for services they don't need.

I never thought I’d be using my own Toronto semi-detached house in a W5 investigation. Talk about close to home.

But it turned out to be one of the most direct ways to investigate a tool that’s allegedly being misused on a large scale to take advantage of tens of thousands of Ontario households.

Here’s how it works, according to a proposed class action lawsuit that’s taking a web of companies to task on its use of what are called “Notices of Security Interest,” or “NOSIs.”

A salesperson knocks on your door, offering to lease you heating or cooling equipment for your home for a monthly rate. Over the life of the contract, that rate adds up to thousands more than the equipment is worth.

That in itself might just be a bad deal for you. However, several customers we talked to for this story found they had no idea that there would be even higher costs to come.

The company takes out an NOSI, which is a dollar amount, with no limit, registered by the company on your home as collateral for the equipment rented. And they don’t have to tell you.

Some NOSIs reviewed by W5 appear to be worth many thousands of dollars more than the equipment itself.