‘Not going down without a fight’: Warranty battle with local homebuilder

A couple said they are getting physically ill as they fight expensive problems in their new construction home. CTV Windsor’s Stefanie Masotti reports.

A Belle River couple say they are emotionally and financially depleted trying to fix hundreds of thousands of dollars in deficiencies to their 2500 sq. foot new construction home.

“We’ve tried so hard to make sure that we’ve provided our children with a lovely life, and now we’re stuck,” said homeowner Suzanne Beaudoin and her husband Michael about what supposed to be their ‘dream home.’

Before they moved into the house in 2016, they had what’s called a pre-possession inspection with the homebuilder, Everjonge Homes. They say they address obvious concerns to the homebuilder.

“He fluffed it off,” said Suzanne Beaudoin who told CTV News Everjonge Homes told them the deficiencies where quote ‘satisfactory.’

But the deficiencies escalated overtime.

“There was a big storm. We ended up taking the walls out,” she said. “We had black mold everywhere.”

Suzanne says it turned out to be a massive leak coming from the side wall from one bedroom, through the garage, into the dining room and into the basement.

They say they contacted their insurance company, who told them the water damage could not be filed as a claim and that it’s the responsibility if of the homebuilder.

A month later, they say, that insurance company canceled their policy.

In 2019, the couple launched a lawsuit against Everjonge Homes. They say it hasn’t helped.

“It’s been five years of this lawsuit, and we are stuck,” Suzanne Beaudoin said as they no longer can afford lawyers.

The Beaudoin’s acquired an independent engineering report, they say, cost them roughly $10,000 identifying all visible deficiencies including the lack of proper waterproofing around doors, windows and the envelopment of the home creating unwanted moisture and mold.

“I’ve been very sick from it. I’m have chronic headaches, migraines,” said Suzanne Beaudoin. “The breathing issues, the asthma. The kids have it. My son, who has asthma, he’s the worst.”

They tell CTV News an independent homebuilder from Sarnia analyzed the home and estimates damage to be upwards of $1 million, due to inadequate waterproofing of doors, windows and the envelopment of the home creating unwanted moisture and mold. It’s a dollar figure the Beaudoin’s can’t afford.

“We paid them for a product that they did not properly deliver,” Suzanne Beaudoin.

In an email sent to CTV News, EverJonge Homes Ltd writes “As this matter is currently the subject of ongoing litigation, we are unable to provide comment at this time.”

“I’m not leaving this home. We fought hard to have it. We fought hard to keep it,” said Suzanne Beaudoin. “I’m not leaving and I’m not going to back down without a fight.”