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'Harold the Mortgage Closer' has licence stripped by authorities
A Toronto mortgage broker is out of business and owes $70,000 in fines after a three-year legal battle with regulatory authorities.
toronto.citynews.ca
‘Harold the Mortgage Closer’ has licence stripped by authorities and given 2 fines
A Toronto mortgage broker is out of business and owes $70,000 in fines after a three-year legal battle with regulatory authorities.
On Monday, Harold Gerstel and his company, Harold the Mortgage Closer Inc. had its licence stripped by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) for refusing to cooperate with an investigation and “repeatedly providing false or misleading information” on licensing applications.
According to court documents, the trouble for Gerstel first started in May 2022, after one of his clients went to the Toronto Star to complain about a deal that he brokered. The 75-year-old victim, who has since died, wanted to finance some renovations on her North York home, but allegedly ended up with shoddy work and multiple mortgages.
The victim explained that she hired a contractor, Anthony Sinopoli, and a lawyer, Kamele Barrett, at Gerstel’s recommendation. That decision ended up costing her $1.3 million and forced her to sell her home.
She ended up suing all three individuals after moving into a retirement residence.
At a court hearing in January 2023, a judge described the claims as a conspiracy “to bamboozle a sick and elderly lady into unconscionable loans to fund over-invoiced and sub-standard renovations.” The case is still before the courts.
In 2022, Sinopoli, known professionally as “Tony the Contractor,” was ultimately arrested and charged with defrauding 15 homeowners who hired his home renovation company.
At the same time, the FSRA was investigating Gerstel’s mortgage activities and later issued a warning letter identifying several instances of non-compliance. The agency found that Gerstel failed to properly conduct identity verification, incorrectly disclosed the number of lenders he represented and did not include processing fees in the calculation of the cost of borrowing.
