Home in Amherstburg, Ont., unlivable after family spent $155K on renovations, police looking for contractor
Tonya Azevedo says she lost $155,000 and her family of four can no longer live in their home of 20 years after a contractor who told them he was licensed did work that turned out to be unsafe. “I’m absolutely heartbroken,” says Azevedo, who had remortgaged her home to pay for the renos.
'This is just the level of destruction that we’re left with,' says Tonya Azevedo
Jason Viau · CBC News
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Tonya Azevedo says she has lost $155,000 and her family of four can no longer live in their home of 20 years after a contractor who told them he was licensed did work that turned out to be unsafe.
Azevedo said she discovered dirt used to fill concrete blocks in the foundation of the home’s addition, live electrical wiring under drywall and a sewer pipe that was ruptured.
The Town of Amherstburg even ordered a stop to construction because the work didn’t match approved drawings and “multiple deficiencies” were found, according to documents obtained by CBC News.
“I’m absolutely heartbroken,” said Azevedo. “Every time I come here and see what’s left of a home that I raised my two children in and all of the happy memories … it’s just gone.”
She remortgaged her Alma Street home to get $200,000 from the bank for an addition and new garage.
There were plans to build onto the rear of the home, expand the family kitchen and the master bedroom, and add an en suite bathroom and a third bedroom upstairs.
Azevedo said she just finished spending the remainder of the loan undoing and fixing the contractor's work.
In the meantime, the family is living with a relative. Azevedo and her husband are sleeping in that home's laundry room.
“We don’t have a home,” said Azevedo. “This is just the level of destruction that we’re left with.”
Police looking to charge contractor
Windsor police said Tuesday that there's now a warrant out for the arrest of contractor Jessie Flaricee after Azevedo filed a report with Windsor police's Amherstburg detachment.
Flaricee is wanted on fraud over $5,000, uttering a forged document and obtaining more than $5,000 under false pretenses.
His company, MBS Home Solutions, was dissolved for non-compliance in November 2024, according to Windsor police.
During a conversation with CBC News on Monday, Flaricee said he offered to fix the issues, has made attempts to reach out to the family and there’s been a communication breakdown.
“They pretty much fired me and didn’t give me the opportunity to fix any issues."
Jessie Flaricee is the owner of MBS Building Solutions and did work on Azevedo's home from March to August. (Facebook)
Flaricee said he also hired subcontractors, but didn’t specify who did the problematic work.
“There is more to the story than portraying it as a contractor trying to take somebody’s money. That’s not even close to the case,” said Flaricee. “There are a lot of layers to this situation that are far more complex than what is being portrayed.”
When asked if there's any remaining money that could be returned to Azevedo, Flaricee said “that’ll be between me and her.”
“There’s no intent to take anything from anybody,” said Flaricee.
Azevedo said Flaricee told her he was a fully licensed contractor, something she says is not true.
“I guess it expired, so I had to renew it, but I’m insured. My bank account is under my business name and my name,” he said.
“People have now touched that project and started working and undoing or doing [work]."
'We trusted this person'
Azevedo said her husband knew Flaricee from the local youth football community and he quickly became a family friend.
“We trusted this person,” said Azevedo. “Maybe we shouldn’t have listened to him and had just done some more research. I was just too trusting of him.”
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) said every contractor should provide the type of licence they have, what agency it’s registered with and when it expires.
“So if you want to dig into the broader term of validating licensing, check directly with the issuing authority, which is easy to do online as well,” said Jennifer Matthews, CEO of the BBB in southwestern Ontario.
Tips on how to protect yourself as a consumer
Matthews said people should also ask for three references.
The BBB’s website allows the public to check the experience and reputation of companies, which Matthews also recommends doing.
“You can look at are their complaints against that business, how have they been resolved."
Demolition and construction first began in March, when she first gave Flaricee $45,000 to get started. That’s when the family packed up all of their things and moved out while the work was being done.
They moved back in by June and then the work stopped in August.
Azevedo said Flaricee asked for more money, but she refused.
She remembers telling him that she doesn’t “feel comfortable giving you any more money until there is close to $155,000 worth of work here and a home that we can live in safely.”
Tonya Azevedo, left, is seen with her husband, Joel Charron, right, her son, Bradley Azevedo and her daughter, Jocelyn Azevedo. (Tonya Azevedo)
In Azevedo's case, there was an attempt to figure out where the money went. She said she asked for invoices and receipts, and never received them.
But Flaricee insisted he was fired and not given the opportunity to fix the problems.
Son's 'safe space and sanctuary' is now gone
Either way, Azevedo said, there’s been a lot of “stress and trauma” put on her family throughout this process.
Her 16-year-old son, who has autism, just wants his bedroom back. She calls it his “safe space and sanctuary" and said it's taken a toll on his mental health.
“To have everything stripped away from them and as a mom, not being able to fix that," said Azevedo.
The town’s building department noted that the foundation mortar joints didn’t comply with the Ontario Building Code and new part of the foundation was not connected to the existing foundation.
After the contractor’s demolition, Azevedo said, there’s been no heat in the home, the family is without a washroom and there isn’t power to much of the house.
“We’re not asking for our home to be finished. We’re just asking for our home back."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jason Viau is reporter for CBC News based in Windsor, Ont. He has an interest in telling stories related to accountability, policing, court, crime and municipal affairs. You can email story ideas and tips to jason.viau@cbc.ca.
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