VIRGINIA, USA — A group of homeowners in Northern Virginia reached out to WUSA9 after watching our ‘Calling out the contractor’ series with a story of their own.
In several lawsuits, three families alleged Greg Dempsey with Stonehill Builders, LLC., committed fraud, larceny, and violated Virginia’s Consumer Protection Act. In a statement to WUSA9, Dempsey declined to comment on the allegations.
“This was to be our forever home. It turned out to be just a nightmare," said Tammy Hartlzer.
Among the group of Northern Virginia homeowners, Tammy Hartlzer was the first to hire Greg Dempsey and Stonehill Builders, LLC. in 2013 to build a custom house in Haymarket, Virginia. She said she noticed issues with her property very early.
“We moved in and it was the winter of 2014 and all of a sudden our heat goes out,” said Hartzler. “We had cracks starting to appear across the ceiling, the walls, the corner beams were popping off. Our sink fell out and just one thing after another started to occur.”
In court documents, Hartlzer said the new house was poorly constructed and that a “used and very old propone tank” had been installed in the house.
Hartlzer admitted Dempsey did complete some repairs, but claimed the repairs were minimal, installing a 2X4 to hold the sink in place. She said follow-up emails, calls and text messages to Dempsey went unanswered.
“We’re supposed to have a deck,” said Elizebeth Feucht as she looked out a door to what should have been a patio. “That’s not going to happen.”
Feucht hired Dempsey in December of 2021 to build a $1.5 million house for her family in Nokesville, Virginia. The house would include five bedrooms, four and half bathrooms with plenty of land and distance between their neighbors.
Dempsey stopped construction on the house and did not respond to multiple attempts for information, Feucht explained to WUSA9. As the construction delay continued, the weather would leave the house vulnerable to rain and other elements.
“We had no windows. No doors. No roof. So, water was getting in all of the house. The wood started warping. We have cracks all over the foundation,” explained Feucht.
The responsibility of finishing the house now rests with Feucht and her family who, on weeknights and weekends, work to turn the shell of a house into a home.
“All of the money right now, of course, is coming out of our pockets, from savings or the college funds for my daughters,” said Feucht.
Sean and Lindsay Hess have their own experience with Dempsey. The couple began a relationship with Dempsey in February of 2021 when they signed a contract to have him construct their new, custom home. However, like the other clients who spoke with WUSA9, they encountered delay after delay even as records showed Dempsey continued to draw funds from the home construction load the couple secured.
Eleven months after the contract was signed and their December 2022 move-in date approached, Dempsey responded to their many requests for information.
“We finally get an email back from Greg indicating that there ready to start framing. Perfect! We're excited. Let's go! He said, we have a bit of a problem. The framing package went up $97,000,” recounted Hess.
The increase in the framing package was a problem for the couple, because the cost of the framing package was already included in the contract. So, the couple sought legal counsel and was advised to pay the additional costs. In addition to that, they were advised to have Dempsey sign an addendum to their contract and cement a final move in date of April 2023. But other issues would arise as the framing package was installed.
“We ended up having a shabby framing job,” said Hess who noticed that the wood installed was brittle and discolored. “It was rotted wood. It was disheveled. It was warped.”
Many of those questionable pieces of wood were installed in the house, Hess told WUSA9.
The couple added they were also met with extended periods of no progress made on the construction of their house. And when the April 2023 move-in deadline came and went, they fired Dempsey which left them without a contractor to finish the house.
“We literally paid for the house to be built out of savings, 401K, maxed out credit cards, and friends and family doing the painting, the electrical, the plumbing. This custom home was literally built by my two hands and my friends and family,” said Hess.
Their experience with Dempsey didn’t end when they parted ways with him. The couple said subcontractor after subcontractor then came after them for owed money and some even placed liens on the property, WUSA9 confirmed.
“He never paid any of the subs. So, the roof, the foundation, the framing package, all of the wood, he never paid for any of it,” said Hess. “Where did all the money go? He received over $1.2 million from us.”
WUSA9 had those questions and more for Dempsey. Where was all of the money? Why did he allegedly stop communicating with the families? Why did Dempsey allegedly cease work on all of these houses? WUSA9 requested an interview with Dempsey, who later declined.
"Mr. Dempsey appreciates the opportunity to give his side of the story; however, due to the pending litigation in Mr. Dempsey's bankruptcy case, as well as against his company, he is declining the offer and he wishes to make no comment at this time,” said John Goetz, an attorney for Dempsey in a statement to WUSA9.
Yet in a response filed to the court by his attorneys, Dempsey denied the allegations.
“He took us for a ton of money, but how can Virginia look at this situation and this man and prevent this from happening in the future,” wondered Hess.
The homeowners took their concerns to Virginia’s Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation. Emails reviewed by WUSA9, showed the agency elevated the homeowners’ complaints to Virginia’s Office of the Attorney General for further review and investigation—a common practice when the agency suspects illegal activity may have occurred.
The Office of the Attorney General had no comment after repeated requests for an interview and the status of the investigation.
“DPOR's authority is confined to the regulations. We're not law enforcement,” said John Robertson, Communications and Digital Manager for DPOR. “So, when something rises to the level of law enforcement, whether it's fraud, whether it's unlicensed activity, we refer those cases to the Attorney General's Office, the Commonwealth attorney's prosecutors.”
DPOR confirmed to WUSA9 Greg Dempsey is not and has never been licensed with DPOR and added that Stonehill Builders does not hold a license with the Board of Contractors.
It’s not clear what’s next for the homeowners.
“We're in the process of looking at possibly selling the property, ahh, and starting over with no money,” said Hess.
Greg Dempsey has filed for bankruptcy protection and because of that many of the lawsuits filed by the homeowners are affected and could be dismissed.
“I have no retirement at this point. [I’m] pretty much living paycheck-to-paycheck – paying attorney bills just trying to get resolution, said Hartlzer.
To protect consumers, DPOR and Virginia’s Office of the Attorney recommend hiring only licensed contractors, checking references, getting written estimates from at least three contractors, and keeping copies of all paperwork. You can verify the license of a contractor and check for complaints here.