She's left with a concrete slab and $140K out of pocket after conflict with a contractor

An Ottawa-area woman says she's at risk of losing her home, alleging that a dispute with a contractor — now charged with fraud — left her close to $140,000 out of pocket in building costs alone.

Carol Richenhaller sold her house during the pandemic to purchase a small hobby farm in Beckwith Township in eastern Ontario, partly because of the positive impact spending time with horses would have on her daughter's mental health. 

It was a bit of an adventure, selling an income property she planned to use as her retirement fund as the two tried to make "COVID lemonade," she said.

"It was golden," Richenhaller said during an interview on the farm in January. "I mean, it did exactly what we were looking for. It provided a space [to better our] mental health."

But Richenhaller says her peaceful oasis just outside of Ottawa quickly turned into a waking nightmare, alleging Shelby Mills, the man she hired to build an indoor horse-riding arena, left the job unfinished and her property in disarray. 

"I'm likely looking at a situation where our dream property is now going to have to be sold so that I can access the money needed to make it through this," Richenhaller said.

But Mills, who was charged by the Ontario Provincial Police earlier this year with one count of fraud over $5,000, denies the accusations against him. He says there is more to the story.

"She has been harassing the hell out of me," said Mills, of Fawn Group Construction, by phone in January. He called his dealings with Richenhaller "frustrating." 

With the fraud charges before the courts and untested, Richenhaller is still out of pocket tens of thousands of dollars and wishes to speak out about her experience. She said it illuminates how consumers are left to fend for themselves.

As she notes, it's been nearly two years since she made her initial payments, and a grey concrete foundation sticking out of the ground is all that exists of her dream riding arena. 

Documents filed by police at the Perth courthouse allege Mills defrauded Richenhaller of $73,450 "by failing to purchase building materials." The accusation dates back to May 6, 2022. 

And according to the police press release about the charge, "it was determined that the money has been misappropriated," with the police investigation beginning in November. 

Richenhaller said she did her research before hiring Mills, checking the Better Business Bureau, saying she saw no complaints. His company was listed on the Canadian Farm Builders Association's website, still visible in a cached version.

She said she reviewed some of the previous builds listed on Fawn Group's website, including ones that had been constructed in the area. She didn't speak to the owners.