Amherstburg family loses $155K to contractor accused of fraud, home uninhabitable
An Ontario family of four can no longer live in their home after a contractor allegedly did unsafe work. Police have issued an arrest warrant for Jessie Flaricee.
Amherstburg family displaced after $155K renovation leaves home unsafe
A family of four in Amherstburg, Ontario, can no longer live in their home of 20 years after a contractor allegedly performed dangerous and substandard work on a planned addition, CBC News reports. Tonya Azevedo says she paid contractor Jessie Flaricee approximately $155,000 — and has nothing livable to show for it.
Azevedo remortgaged her Alma Street home to secure $200,000 from the bank. The plan was to build a rear addition, expand the kitchen and master bedroom, and add an en suite bathroom and a third bedroom upstairs. Work began in March, when she handed Flaricee an initial $45,000 to start demolition and construction.
What followed, according to Azevedo and documents obtained by cbc.ca, was a series of serious deficiencies: dirt used to fill concrete blocks in the foundation, live electrical wiring left behind drywall, and a ruptured sewer pipe. The Town of Amherstburg issued a stop-work order after finding the construction did not match approved drawings and cited "multiple deficiencies."
"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."
The family moved out in March while work was underway, returned in June, and then watched construction grind to a halt in August. When Flaricee requested additional funds, Azevedo refused, telling him she didn't feel comfortable paying more "until there is close to $155,000 worth of work here and a home that we can live in safely." She said she asked for invoices and receipts throughout the process but never received them. She has since spent the remaining portion of the loan correcting and undoing what was done.
The family is currently staying with a relative, with Azevedo and her husband sleeping in that home's laundry room. The Alma Street house currently has no heat, no functioning washroom and limited power.
"We don't have a home," said Azevedo. "This is just the level of destruction that we're left with."
Arrest warrant issued; company dissolved
Windsor Police confirmed Tuesday that an arrest warrant has been issued for Flaricee. He is wanted on charges of fraud over $5,000, uttering a forged document, and obtaining more than $5,000 under false pretenses — following a report Azevedo filed with Windsor Police's Amherstburg detachment.
Flaricee's company, MBS Home Solutions, was dissolved for non-compliance in November 2024, according to Windsor Police.
In a conversation with CBC News on Monday, Flaricee disputed the characterization of events. He said he offered to fix the problems, made attempts to contact the family, and was ultimately fired before he could address any issues.
"They pretty much fired me and didn't give me the opportunity to fix any issues," he said.
Flaricee also said he had hired subcontractors but did not specify who was responsible for the deficient work. He maintained there was no intent to defraud.
"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," Flaricee told CBC News. "There are a lot of layers to this situation that are far more complex than what is being portrayed."
When asked whether any money could be returned to Azevedo, Flaricee said "that'll be between me and her."
On the question of his licence, Flaricee acknowledged it had lapsed. "I guess it expired, so I had to renew it, but I'm insured," he said. Azevedo says Flaricee had told her he was a fully licensed contractor — a claim she says was false.
Family trusted contractor through personal connection
Azevedo said her husband knew Flaricee through the local youth football community, and the contractor quickly became a family friend. That relationship shaped the level of trust the family extended.
"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 impact has been particularly hard on her 16-year-old son, who has autism. Azevedo describes his bedroom as his "safe space and sanctuary" and said losing access to it has taken a toll on his mental health. "To have everything stripped away from them and as a mom, not being able to fix that," she said.
The town's building department noted that foundation mortar joints did not comply with the Ontario Building Code and that the new portion of the foundation was not connected to the existing one.
BBB urges Ontarians to verify contractor credentials
Jennifer Matthews, CEO of the Better Business Bureau (BBB) in southwestern Ontario, said every contractor should be able to provide the type of licence they hold, the issuing authority and the expiry date.
"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," Matthews said.
She also recommends requesting at least three references and using the BBB's website to review a company's complaint history and how those complaints were handled.
"You can look at are their complaints against that business, how have they been resolved," Matthews said.
Azevedo summed up the family's situation with quiet clarity: "We're not asking for our home to be finished. We're just asking for our home back."
Source: Google News CA — Crime (EN)