A Saint Andrews couple is fighting to recoup about $200,000 in losses from a renovation that they say was started, but never finished, by a contractor now embroiled in several disputes with former clients.
Trudy Gallagher and Ken Washburn say plans for a home renovation last year have turned into a nightmare that's left them deep in debt.
A stroll along the Saint Andrews waterfront has Ken Washburn sailing back in time, to when he'd spend summer days on the Passamaquoddy Bay with his grandfather, and evenings marked with a bonfire and lobster boil.
Those core childhood memories made the decision to relocate to Saint Andrews from Fredericton an easy one, with plans to turn his grandparent's old two-car garage into a retirement home for himself and his wife, Trudy Gallagher.
But their dream of seaside living has turned into a year-long nightmare, they said, with their hoped-for retirement home now a mess of unfinished work under a layer of construction dust.
The couple said they have handed over $250,000 to their contractor, Justin Dale Stewart, and while some work was done, they believe that only about $50,000 worth of work and supplies are accounted for.
"And then you're caught because you've paid so much money and you're stuck and you have a house that's not livable," Gallagher said.
Stewart owns St. Stephen-based Stewart's Property Solutions and is embroiled in a number of disputes with former clients.
Gallagher and Washburn have found support speaking with other families in a similar situation.
CBC News requested an interview with Stewart. He declined the request, but in a written response disputed allegations against him.
In Washburn and Gallagher's case, he said previously concealed structural issues were uncovered during construction, and that the couple requested additional work beyond the original scope.
"At no point during the project was I advised that they were dissatisfied with the work being performed," he said.
Stewart came highly recommended by friends of Washburn and Gallagher, who vouched for his craftsmanship and dependability, based on work from a few years prior. But the couple said they believe something changed in the meantime, that has left a trail of unhappy clients.
In St. George, Cohen and Eden Szemerda hired Stewart to tear down their home after a fire last year. He was also hired to pour a concrete patio, infill their basement with a concrete slab, landscape the yard and grade the driveway once the build was complete.
The Szemerdas said there were a lot of expenses coming out of their accounts at the time, as they replaced their belongings lost in the fire. But after a while, they said, things weren't adding up.
"We started to see that there were duplicate charges, like he was charging our general contractor and then also charging us for the same thing. So we're getting double-billed," Cohen Szemerda said.
"And then once we started to investigate more, we just found more and more and more. And it just snowballed from there."
Cohen Szemerda said the concrete patio that they paid for wasn't done, and the basement slab had to be torn out.
According to a building inspection report from the Southwest New Brunswick Service Commission, the foam insulation used on the exterior wall of the foundation and under the slab was the incorrect type and did not meet the required resistance value.
Stewart said he does not accept responsibility for the concrete floor and the subsequent work performed after his involvement.
He also said the homeowners requested that invoices be split between them and the general contractor at certain points of the project, including their request regarding invoice presentation.
The couple also has a small claims suit filed with the Saint John Courts, in an effort to recoup about half of their $40,000 claim.
They said they're grateful they went with another company to build their house, despite Stewart's offer to do the entire job for less.
Mandatory contractor registration needed, homebuilders' association says
Claudia Simmonds said she wishes these stories were the exception. But the CEO of the Canadian Home Builders' Association of New Brunswick gets calls about contractor complaints every week.
"It's very common whether it's done intentionally, if it's a scam, or whether it's done through lack of knowledge, training or education about how to build or renovate a home," Simmonds said. "We hear from homeowners all the time with issues such as these."
Across the country regulatory protection for homeowners is patchy at best. Simmonds said British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec all require contractor licensing, warranty and training regulations.
But she said those same regulations don't exist in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, or anywhere on the east coast.
"Atlantic Canada is the wild east," Simmonds said. "Anyone can pick up a hammer tomorrow and decide they're going to be a renovator or a builder, new home builder, and if they can find someone to hire them, then they're in business."
The Canadian Home Builders' Association provides certification and training for builders, but it's a voluntary organization in the Atlantic provinces, which Simmonds said leaves a lot of room for unqualified contractors.
If there was mandatory contractor registration in the province, there would be a complaints and discipline process, she said, so those people could lose their licence.
Caroline Côté moved to the St. Stephen area last year from Quebec, not knowing those same protections wouldn't apply in her new home province.
She hired Stewart and is also entangled in a dispute.
Her records show she paid $63,597 over six months but only got a driveway and septic system installed for the money.
She said she then waited six months for the actual house build to begin, before ultimately cancelling the contract.
Côté said she has filed a small claims suit in hopes of recouping the maximum $20,000 limit, which would account for most of the $30,000 that she said she's owed.
"I lost a year, because it was supposed to be done last year," she said. "I lost a lot of money and it jeopardized my project because I'm not rich," she said.
Stewart said the delays were due to changes on Côté's end, rebooking to a later date. He declined to comment further.
We don't want to see anybody go through what we've been going through because it's hell.\
- Ken Washburn, Saint Andrews resident
Gallagher and Washburn are now working with another local contractor to make their home livable, with a priority of getting doors and siding on before winter.
But their other priority is warning other unsuspecting clients. Gallagher said she has now spoken with multiple families who have shared similar nightmares of working with Stewart, which has stirred up a wide range of emotions.
"Devastation that this has happened to other people, and we're probably not going to recover anything from this," she said. "There was also anger that so many people's lives have been destroyed and hurt and disrupted."
Former clients of Justin Stewart have been comparing their experiences with the St. Stephen contractor.
Gallagher and Washburn said they believe there is an underlying pattern that's been going on for years. And that sense of injustice is what now keeps them up at night.
"The reality is our money's gone," Washburn said. "But we don't want to see any more young families, we don't want to see any more seniors, we don't want to see anybody go through what we've been going through because it's hell."
RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Luc Picard said in a statement "anyone who believes they may be the victim of fraud or suspects criminal wrongdoing involving a contractor should document their concerns and report the matter to their local police service or the RCMP."
"This includes retaining contracts, invoices, receipts, correspondence, and any other relevant records. Before hiring a contractor, individuals are encouraged to conduct research, obtain written estimates and contracts, verify credentials and references, and avoid making large upfront payments whenever possible."
