Hell Hath No Fury
As homeowners we did all the right things - we listed jobs to be done on a Contractors site. Interviewed several and did check references, visited their offices, job sites, and even spoke to former clients. So what went wrong? The reno was quite extensive and we remorgaged our home to do so. The first day the yard was filled with workman who surrounded the home and started dismantling things. It's far too long to get into but eventually the contractor got into financial difficulties and abandoned the job site, even tho we had paid him faithfully every 2 wks according to our contract, he didn't pay the sub-contractors, who eventually sued us and placed liens on our house, the workman who didn't get paid walked off (although all were sympathetic to our plight) and worse one of the sub-contractors who was best friends with the contractor would show up periodically at my home with "big guys". It left us in financial ruin and emotionally I felt like I was in a dark hole I couldn't get out off. I had no power downstairs in my home for six months and water was pouring down my living room walls. I went to the dump for over a year on a weekly basis throwing away all the moldy furniture and personal belongings. My hours were cut and Kaj's company shut down. My son who had brain surgery just prior to the reno was expected home to recover. He wasn't able to as the house was barely livable. Two years of 'ell and then I crawled out of that hole ....This will not destroy my dream and I'm going to do whatever it takes, no matter how long....stay tuned for part 2..:0) This is how the "scum of the earth" left my home. Some of you may remember the immaculate grounds and how neat my home and yard were previously.  |
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| Sounds like you need to call Mike Holmes... Vance |
Vance wrote: Sounds like you need to call Mike Holmes... I believe back when this started we figured out he only works in the Toronto area and Marianne is in BC. I'm just stunned you've had no recourse or resolution after all this time, Marianne. I am so sorry you've been going through this. Cannot wait for part 2 and hope there is a really, really happy ending! |
In that case, you need to find a guy named Vinnie or Tony to 'help' you out.  Vance |
| Marianne, That is just appalling! I can't believe that you were treated like that. I am horrified that this could happen to somebody as wonderful as you. Sending you much love and positive thoughts for a better future. Love Debs xx |
OH my!!! I am mad and sad for you! Seriously it would be great for one of those shows. Getting wronged by the man to make a loving safe home for the sad neglected left homeless animals  |
| How horrible. One suggestion is to go to your local prosecutor's office or victim advocate and ask for victim advocate funds - here in Kentucky we have such a fund for people who fall victim to an assortment of crimes. I certainly wish you the very best to get this resolved. |
| Mike Holmes has traveled outside of the Toronto area before. I saw an episode of him working on a house in California. |
| Oh Marianne! I remember your grounds were beautiful! This is just awful and shocking and sad. I hope part 2 has already begun for you. How is your son? Has Kaj found a new job? You were my main inspiration in getting Chumley, which lead to Maggie then Henry and so I want the best for you. I so hope that all of your goodness is rewarded soon (in this lifetime, I mean). |
| Oh no ): That is so sad. I really hope something wonderful happens to even out all the bad. |
| Hi and thanks for the comments everyone. Although I had mentioned the reno disaster in previous post I was unable to show pics or go into length as to how devestating it was at the time. We did get a lawyer but scummy contractors letters went unanswered and his business was shut down. I did find out what street he lived on from a workman who had been there once but not the address and for a YEAR I googled EARTH and one night I found it! "I know this is his house", I told Kaj. You can't tell by looking at a house he insisted but when I hit the + there was his truck sitting in the driveway. The lawyer then was able to send a notice to his home. Sadly, we were informed...get in line there's 5 others ahead of you , including 2 banks that are forclosing on his home. There was no money left. At Christmas, my childhood friend called me to wish me MC and asked what was wrong and I told her the terrible story. We couldn't celebrate at all as we still only had one outet that worked downstairs as water had poured down our electrical panel. Worse we had only plywood on two of the walls of our exterior or our home. Her husband who is a contractor came to live with us for 2 wks in Feb and he and I lifted the hardy plank via ladder on the second story and fixed it. I would have hired him initially but they live 2 ferries away on an Island. Whatever the two of us could do - we did to make the house liveable. We had to hire an electrician to place a new electrical panel in and when the warm weather arrived I single handedly built a new fence and gate (something the scummy contractor) never got to but was on the list. The animals were what motivated me as I feared the dogs would get out with the old fence. Kaj in the meantime was working double shifts in order to make up some of the financial loss and I spent aprox a year and half removing all the debris from the yard and garage. Merlin once injured his foot and I had to rush him to the vet fearing he'd broken it when he banged into this huge metal post laying on the ground. Kaj and I tried to move it previously but it was too heavy. After that day, I was so mad (mothers love) I picked up that darn thing and moved it away from the dogs playing area. The bunnies who would have been in our toasty heated garage by now were still outside in their Mastiff cage, and the cats didn't have access to the outdoors as scum bag had taken our railings from our porch to get powder coated and never returned them. As many of our cats have one eye, neurological problems or are elderly I feared they would fall off the porch and so had to keep that door closed. (Again, I was so mad at the situation one day that it affected all the animals I hauled the Mastiff cage back inside the garage, and found railings on Craigs List).. The woman was amazing and what would have cost aprox 2,000 to replace she sold them to me for a 100 when I told her my story. I placed those things on top of my car, hanging out the end(with flags) tied them securely and drove over the bridge praying they wouldn't fall off. Eventually, I found a welder and he and I installed them. Kaj and I found amazing people who gave us deals on flooring as my carpets now were moldy and together he and I fixed all the floors of our home and installed them ourselves. (I'm getting pretty good at installing floors now as I did it at my previous home too). Whatever, I could get at discount prices I would and shopped for materials on Craigs List each time I got a paycheck. Sometimes I would be really down but I would look at all those amazing set of eyes aka the furried friends and think, "this scum bag is not destroying my dream and this house is worth fighting for". The animals and my children were my motivation in those dark times. In the meantime, scummy contractors best friend would continuously show up and ask me for money - always showing up with his dad when I was alone. The day he showed up with the "big guys" who looked like Mafioso types - leaning over the fence, arms crossed...four of them! While I didn't have Guidos or Angelos at my home - I had Merlin, Panda and Snoop! :O) Even Gilligan snoozing on the porch woofed! The dogs had always been safetly kept in a large 20 by 30 chain link enclosure I had installed before the reno work was started on my home specifically for that purpose. That day they were running outside with me in the yard. They thought perhaps I always kept them there? The dogs sensing my distress all came charging for the fence and they all jumped back. I reported the incident and felt confident that was the last I saw of them at my home as all 4 clearly were terrified of dogs, but still had to deal with him as he had filed a 24,000 small claims against us for his original 6,000 work that his best friend had not paid him. Stay tuned for part 3 ...(after 2 yrs we finally had our day in court 2 wks ago) |
| What a nightmare. I feel really bad for you. Animals are a good thing to keep us grounded, they aren't malicious, you get love from them and not negativity, which is definitely not the case with some of the human race. |
| Wow Maryianne, I'm so sorry you're going through this. Next time they show up call the police. You don't need to be harrassed by those jerks. Take care of yourself, you will have the santuary that you've dreamed of. |
| Part 3 - After 2 years we had our day in court. While normally the law states that a homeowner is responsible to sub-contractors if they don't get paid (the holdback money). This horrible sub-contractor whom I mentioned was scumbag contractors best friend turned out to be also the engineer who designed our 16,000 dollar deck that didn't leave enough room for doors, had no windows , nor stairs. So now I had structural change to my home going from a peak above the garage to a flat roof which was supposed to be this beautiful deck with access from the upstairs rooms. In an nutshell I spent the last two years getting 3 different engineer reports, an architechtual drawing, notarized statements from various workman who either worked on the project or tried to fix it. In all 450 pages of documents and over 1000 photos. Yeah our time in court day arrived and scumbags friend had not sent me any "discovery" his side of the case where I had sent all my documents and photos of what I was presenting in court in the time frame allocated by the court. We had also spent 8,000 on lawyer fees but eventually ran out of money and I prepared all the stuff myself. Overwhelmed is an understatement. :O) We won our case as the court found we were not enriched by this and scumbags friend had to pay the court cost. Sadly and with dismay our lawyer had not filed the countersuit with the court so we didn't recieve any money resulting in the "engineers" appalling deck which will result in the entire thing being dismantled and rebuilt. After some investigating turns out he was not an engineer after all but had taken a two year course and was not authorized to sign off on any project. It sorta sucks because I no doubt had enough to prove the case of negligence but countersuit was not filed. I just wish someone had told us about the "enrichment" 8000 previously. So in the end we both decided we would not let this get to us as not giving that horrible man any monies was priceless, that would have caused us further pain. The court was sympathetic and while I'm sure we would have won the countersuit as it had not been filed we could only deal with his scumbags lawsuit and lien...he walked out with nothing and the judges scathing remarks who saw him as he really was. To add insult to injury and his pride he had to pay the court cost. That was sorta worth it all when he protested of how he wanted his money...blah blah.. I also realized that while it's a large amount of money it's not forever. My son's recovery is far more important on the grand scheme of things. I also learned there is lots of nice people in the world , more so, than scumbags. It is ironic that the day scumbags friend came with the big guys and the dogs prevented them from entering my yard, 3 "street people" whom I often chat with came running to my assistance. I know who the good guys were. Okay enough rambling there is one more part and I promise it will be short but karma was at play. |
| Oh last thing....my students are now free to make a video and name these guys which may prevent others from ever hiring them ,no matter where they live. Hopefully, like us, the homeowners will do some research on their names and will come across the video. I'm now free to do that as I can't be sued for libel as it's the truth and I have documentation and court records to back it up. Justice will be served in one way or another and I hope some poor family will be prevented from ever hiring them. The video is still being made which shows the destruction and devestation they caused us. I'll post the link when it's finished. |
WOW! Marianne, The whole saga is fricking UNBELIEVEABLE!! Karma is a B___H  Like you said, your son's recovery is far more important  And your lawyer didn't file a countersuit? Did he 'forget'? When you post your video, I'm sorry I won't be able to hear it. (no speakers) Is is going on You Tube? You might also want to make the media aware of the Stellar Scumbag  Karma..............Things WLL get better and better. |
| I hate to suggest this, but can't you go ahead and sue the contractor. Too late for a counteruit, but I don't want him to get away with it. |
Way to go girl!!  |
| Glad you finally got some justice! Cindy |
| I'm so glad your perseverance and hard work paid off!! The money (countersuit) would have been really nice, but the winning and exposing them for the horrid people they are would have been enough for me too. And making sure people don't get suckered in again by them. Thank goodness you were able to prove they were so bad, and now you are free from them harassing YOU to pay as well. Todd and I represented ourselves in a much smaller case once, and my attention to detail and all the photos and such won us our case too. Now I hope you, your son, Kaj and all the animal kids can enjoy. |
| Thanks everyone! Part 4: The court case finally over was like a huge boulder lifted off my shoulders. Yes, it would have been nice to get some monies back but as I've mentioned scummy contractor has long dissapeared but in the tech world...not forever as his name will be synonomous with scammer and scumbag. :O) His buddy in crime is equally guilty. Enough said about both of them as life goes on and I won't let them get to me. Although I wondered how and why this happened when we were trying to do good works for animals and eventually have high risk youth help at the sanctuary. The money lost was irreplaceable...or was it? How would I ever in my lifetime recoup that substantial loss? What could I do? I always wanted to have a nestegg of some sort in case something happened to me. What would become of my sons or pets? I always wanted to have something for the future which would increase in value to safeguard their well being. The two years I spent fixing up the mess and dealing with a gazillion people....lets not forget the sewer backup and fence crashing that happened previous to this mess. Before that, as a single mom and unable to afford hiring people to fix up my home I took free courses offered at lumber stores and learned how to install sinks, toilets, install laminate flooring, tiles, and a whole bunch of useful stuff. I built numerous animal enclosures...which ultimately led to being able to build fences and decks. Overtime I acquired power tools and got better at "fixing things". I also can do landscaping and gardening having previously won those contest. Soooo I did what any woman would do in my situation....I became a CONTRACTOR! Yesterday, I was approved and now am entitled to "special parking, discounts and perks". I was interviewed and approved to get the same rate as the pro's when it comes to home improvement. I also bought a house!!! How the heck did I do that you might ask? Well despite the financial losses, my credit is good and I placed an offer on a sad looking home just blocks from my own as an investment property. I convinced the bank that I could fix it up. That took an enormous amount of convincing but my paperwork from my "former life" as an entertainer and side work teaching ESL, my summer work working grounds and transport, besides my current job showed I could financial support it if I needed other income to fall back on. Funny how all my previous stuff came back to help me in the future. The thought too of fixing up a home was not daunting at all considering I've now spent the last 12 yrs...fixing stuff. What I don't know how to do, I have now met really good reputable trades people who are licenced in their field. The bank appraisal came in higher what my offer was and home inspection showed no major structual problems - just that the home needed TLC. The person selling it suprised the heck outta me when he accepted my lowball offer with no counter offer. The renter of six years was an elderly man who owns an elderly Pitbull, his adult disabled son, and they really wanted to stay in the home. He was worried about where they would go and who would allow him to take the dog. No problem I told him - You stay right where you are. I won't raise the rent but will fix up the place (The rental income is double what the morgage payments are). He had never seen the owner in the six yrs he rented as a property income company picked up his post dated checks once a year. The bank appraiser, home inspector, lawyer, realtor and morgage broker were astounded at the price I got the home for. It was the cheapest house in the city and so of course everyone wondered what was wrong with it. But..besides needing coats of paint, inside and out and a few minor things , nothing, the executor of the estate just wanted to get rid of it. It had just come on the market and I got it. Weirder still...if I turned around and sold the home tomorrow...the asking price would almost exactly what I lost in the reno disaster including the realtor fees. I'm at a loss to explain this whole irony. The home is just blocks away from mine and easy for me to work on it without having to spend too much time away from the animals. So in the end...although it will take years I will be able to recoup the monies lost with a little sweat equity but by now I don't know any different. I have no plans to sell it and the old man, his son and dog are welcome to stay there as long as they like. In years to come I will eventually sell that home and have my nestegg to provide for my sons and animals should they need care. Yup....must be Karma! |
| That is so cool!! |
| Wonderful end to the story altho it took a long time to get there. You deserve the best, hope the worst is behind you and everything works out the way you need it to. Love that the old man, old dog and son can stay in the home. |
That is awesome!  Cindy |
| What an amazing journey you have been on!! Gilligan would be so proud |
| Kudos to you! |
| Wonderful! |
| What an incredible story! |
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