Nicole Curtis of HGTV’s Rehab Addict is no stranger to litigation. A crew Curtis worked with years ago is glad to hear that, because they’re threatening a lawsuit in order to collect payment on an old job.
According to John Jespen of Jespen Construction, Nicole Curtis stiffed him on payment for a Minneapolis job both parties announced and began, among great fanfare, over three years ago–one that still hasn’t been completed. Local media say piles of construction materials and debris still sit outside the house, which is wide open to the elements, and now has a significant leak in its roof.
Said Jensen, “It’s kind of going backwards and it’s sad….It’s a considerable amount of money that we’re owed and we just want to be paid for the work we did.”
According to Jensen, that amount comes out to $25,000, and it’s been due for over a year.
Nicole Curtis, though, says Jensen “has been paid for all services performed and completed,” and that he and his crew are responsible for the damage to the house, since they left the site unsecure.
To prove her point, Curtis also shared a Facebook message comprised of a photo of the Hillside house and a quick, easy quiz for her 820,000 followers to take. Via Facebook:
Would you call this a secured job site or unsecured job site ? and this is a test to see if you read and follow directions -just answer secured or unsecured 🙂 (my years of elementary ed prep have to be used at some point so my Gramps doesn’t feel it was a complete waste:) Jepsen construction
For her part, says she understands the frustrations of the neighbors on either side of the house–which remains in her name–but that finishing the job is one of her intended projects. “I’ve never said to the community we’re not going to do this,” Curtis said. “What I’ve said is you need to be supportive of this and quit criticizing it because we’re doing the best that we can.”
Nicole Curtis owns at least one home in the Minneapolis area, and is taking the lawsuit in stride. In her view, litigation like this “comes with the territory” when dealing with contractors and subcontractors.
Rehab Addict airs regularly on DIY Network, and on HGTV.
(Photo credits: Nicole Curtis on Facebook)
