Day 10 of the trial for EcoLife Home Improvements owner David Murray got underway on Monday, with yet another witness testimony of a less than satisfactory experience with the contractor.
Cheryl Crossman took the virtual witness stand on March 29 via Zoom conference, recounting the months of back and forth with Murray and the frustration of an unfinished home improvement project that set her back more than $50,000.
Crossman and her husband were shopping around for a contractor in 2018 to do a large-scale upgrade to the outside of their home, she told the court. The couple were looking to have new siding installed, new windows and doors, along with a new porch at the front of the home that would include a roof and stairs.
After receiving quotes from a few different local contractors, the couple landed on EcoLife and signed on with Murray in July.
As has been testified by a number of witnesses over the course of the trial, the business dealings began with Murray backdating a contract in order to allow the couple to qualify for the GreenOn energy rebate program that would see them receive a $3,000 rebate.
"It made it more enticing for us, hearing that we'll get $3,000 back," Crossman told the court on Monday. "I e-transferred him $3,000 that night (in July) in order to secure us a spot in the GreenOn program."
The contract that Crossman signed, however, had been backdated to April 2018.
Crossman entered into a second contract with Murray a short time after signing the first contract, this time for a renovation of her kitchen and mud room. According to Crossman, Murray had offered to knock $1,000 off the price of the job if she paid up front.
Crossman testified that Murray went with her to the bank so that she could acquire bank drafts. Crossman made payments of roughly $21,000 and $15,000 initially, and another payment of $17,000 late in July of 2018.
The cost for the outside project on Cheryl's home was $49,600 and the mud room and kitchen project was set at $34,500, for a total of around $84,000 worth of work to be completed.
Through the bank drafts and e-transfer, Cheryl and her husband had paid off more than 50 per cent of the project. Work on the Crossman home began very shortly after payment had been received by Murray, much to the excitement of Cheryl.
"I thought they weren't going to be starting until September, so when they showed up in July it was a surprise," said Cheryl. "They took down the old siding and did the strapping."
EcoLife workers put up new insulation and siding, though her new porch wasn't built and the second project on the mud room and kitchen were never started. Crossman took a trip to Nova Scotia in late July into August and when she returned there was no sign of any workers and work on her home had halted.
This began a tiresome back and forth between her and Murray, with phone calls and text messages that resulted in mostly dead ends.
Assistant Crown Attorney Patrick Travers presented a number of screenshots of text message conversations between Crossman and Murray, depicting Crossman inquiring on a number of different dates as to when work would resume on her home.
"I would call and it would go straight to his answering machine and then he would text me saying he was busy or he was driving and that he would call me later," said Crossman. "He'd say he was stressed from the GreenOn program."
Text messages and calls were made in the months of October and November, with Murray telling Crossman via text that it was too cold for crews to work, as cutting siding in the cold presented a risk of cracking the material.
Curious as to the status of the job, Crossman called the city's building services department in February of 2019 to inquire if any building permit applications had been filed for her home, as one would be required in order to construct her new porch.
"They told me that they hadn't received any building permit applications for my address," said Crossman. "I kept calling (Murray) and he would tell me he was coming but he never showed up."
Crossman did receive her $3,000 rebate from the GreenOn program for the insulation that was installed at her home, and she stated on the record that there weren't any issues with the actual work that the EcoLife crews had done.
"There were a few minor things like with some cuts in the siding around outlets, but other than that it all looked good," said Crossman.
On April 12, 2019 the city of Greater Sudbury revoked Murray's business license and Crossman met with the contractor a short time after.
"He told me that he didn't have a business license but that he was going to get one," said Crossman.
On April 16, Murray told Crossman that he was aiming to get workers to her home by the following week.
To date, the majority of the work originally contracted to EcoLife has not been completed and Crossman has had to pay $15,000 to another contractor to have the stonework and fascia completed on the exterior of her home. The deck and roof extension that she contracted EcoLife to complete, has not been built.
Murray’s fraud trial continues this week on March 30 and April 1 with more testimony from more witnesses who say they were bilked by the contractor.
After this week, there are still three more days of trial scheduled: May 2-4 and May 6.
