A woman in Russell, Ont. alleges she and other homeowners are out hundreds of thousands of dollars after she says a local contractor took their money for work that was never finished or in some cases never even started. 

“He’s made our lives so inconvenient,” said Allison Brookes. “We put everything into a savings account to reno this place and he’s just gone.”  

Brookes bought the property knowing major renovation work—hundreds of thousands of dollars worth—was needed, and hired a contractor she found online.  

“I called his references, I looked him up on Better Business Bureau, I didn’t find anything that raised any suspicions,” she said. 

The contractor started the job and found subcontractors for the roof and windows, she said, with crews showing up consistently between October to December 2020. After Christmas, the work stopped.  

“Any job that he personally started or his crew started never got finished and it was just excuse after excuse as to why he couldn’t show up.” 

Brookes says her home was left in disarray—stairs put on the wrong way, no kitchen ceiling or an upstairs shower and chunks missing from her floors, among other major issues. 

The worst part, she admits, was how much money she handed over.  

“He got almost $170,000, about $168,000 based on all the e-transfers and the deposits and stuff.”  

Brookes said they had agreed on a 50 per cent down payment.  

“I would pay him every week and so as soon as he stopped showing up of course I stopped paying him but by that point he would be here for a day or two but he’d expect a full week’s worth of pay and he was really good at making me feel guilty,” she said. 

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