Building a first home is the beginning of a beautiful life project for many Quebecers, but the exact opposite happened to a young Quebec family, for whom the dream turned into a nightmare.
Work deadlines were not met, the contractor was protected from his creditors and in a dispute with the Régie du Bâtiment du Québec, the couple invested thousands of dollars they will never see again, and today this family is being shown the door to what she thought was her home.
It all started for Mathieu Dugas and Stéphanie Gilbert in April 2022 when they were expecting their second child. They therefore signed a contract with a developer to build a house in the new Val-Bélair district. A few weeks later the first problems appeared.
“The baby was here and we started having questions. Things were unclear. We started thinking about when the house would be delivered,” recalls Mathieu Dugas.
As the takeover approached in October, they were in for a nasty surprise. The turnkey project is far from finished. According to the couple, subcontractors refused to carry out the work. He offered to finance the remainder of the interior work with the approval of the main contractor. On September 24th, they will finally move in without having signed a notarial deed.
“We did business with his subcontractors. We did not buy for our subcontractors. We just did business with the people he usually did business with. We pushed the work forward for the good of our family,” added Mr. Dugas.
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At the same time, the contractor Constructions Alliance 2016 has great difficulties with its guarantor. The company is run by businessmen Éric Bellefeuille and Ghislain Carrier.
“The company has 35 recognized complaint files. There are also five that are being worked on. We can say without a doubt that this is a big deal for GCR,” said François-William Simard, Vice President of Communications and Partner Relations at Garantie de construction Residential.
“There were significant delays on the part of the suppliers. “We have the emails in support, we need to prove precisely before the Régie du Bâtiment that it is not solely Constructions Alliance’s fault,” said company lawyer Me Stéphane Harvey.
Finally, last September, the company lost its Residential Construction Guarantee (GCR) accreditation, preventing it from working on new construction projects. Less than a month later, she filed for bankruptcy. His debts were then estimated at more than $4.2 million.
That’s not all. “City inspectors found that there had been construction work that had been carried out without obtaining a permit,” said Bianca Dussault, Val-Bélair councillor, who was called to comment on the filing.
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The city of Quebec is filing six criminal charges.
“It’s a matter of mistake. Dozens of units may have an error or two, either the permit was not granted, or the city had to grant it and didn’t grant it. But it’s limited. It is a very limited problem,” explained Me Stéphane Harvey.
The Régie du Bâtiment du Québec is currently conducting hearings that may involve contractor licenses. For Mathieu and Stéphanie, this is just the tip of the iceberg.
“The building was reclaimed by a creditor. A private investor who had borrowed money for the building. He obtained a judgment for the recovery of the building. At that time he decided to rent the buildings, so we had to leave immediately. He’s leaving us by June 19,” lamented Stéphanie Gilbert.
The couple and their two children have to leave the premises. According to GCR, they find that they paid their $18,000 deposit but are unable to recover the money invested in the work. The young parents estimate the value at around $45,000.
“So what we’re being told by the body that’s supposed to protect buyers is ‘a shame’. Leave your home, start from scratch with your children, minus several thousand dollars in your pocket,” said Mathieu Dugas.
“We’re thirty years old and we’ve invested a lifetime’s savings in a house we thought was ours. We have invested time and money, we have two children and we are losing absolutely everything. “We pick up more money on the street with two young children aged 5 and 10 months,” added his wife.
“Clearly, for the deal to be possible, it is imperative that consumers have the title deeds or are in the process of acquiring them,” explained GCR’s François-William Simard.
It is therefore a real nightmare, the traces of which go beyond the financial abyss.
“Living there in such a situation got us, we went through a year of hell. It was also extremely difficult for our couple. We will not hide from you that we are exhausted”, Stéphanie Gilbert concluded.
Entrepreneurs Éric Bellefeuille and Ghislain Carrier are still in operation. Any new construction is currently prohibited.