B.C. woman wins $740K in civil suit over botched renovation that left her home 'gutted'

A Kelowna, B.C., woman has been awarded over $740,000 after she sued a contractor, who is also one of her neighbours, over botched renovation work.

Beverly Wanklyn sent hundreds of thousands of dollars to Rene Bertrand and his company Elite Lifestyle Service to complete a renovation on her lakefront property while she was on vacation in the spring of 2017, according to a recent B.C. Supreme Court decision,

But she returned to find her house "gutted," according to the decision, and the court found Bertrand subsequently made false representations to get more money from her over the next year and a half — including money he used to renovate his own house.

Eventually, Wanklyn had to pay a different contractor nearly a million dollars to renovate the house. She sued Bertrand for breach of contract and  sought punitive damages.

In a summary decision, Justice Warren Milman decided in her favour. Bertrand didn't formally respond to the lawsuit in court.

"The defendants promised to complete the renovation, at each stage, within a time span measured in weeks and for a fixed price that kept growing, and then failed to do what they promised," the decision reads.

"Instead, after about 18 months of inactivity, Ms. Wanklyn had received only an interior demolition, asbestos abatement, and some minor electrical and plumbing work."

CBC News contacted Bertrand's company for its response but has not heard back.

Wanklyn had initially hired Bertrand to renovate her house and install a guest suite after meeting him through mutual friends, according to the decision. The two both live on Kelowna's Manhattan Drive.

After that renovation was complete, Wanklyn and Bertrand discussed a more substantial renovation of the house, the court said.

The Kelowna woman then went on a European vacation between March 15 and April 21, 2017, with the promise that she would reside in the new guest suite when she returned and work would be finished by the May 22 long weekend.

"[Wanklyn] was expecting to arrive home to a newly-renovated house," the decision reads.

"Instead, she was shocked to find that the house had been gutted and progress halted. Her belongings remained in storage offsite."

Wanklyn initially demanded a refund from Bertrand, but the contractor said he had discovered rotting wood in some of the house's support beams.