A majestic family house overlooking the picturesque Caribbean sea, it is the retirement home many dream of and the house Laurine and Seth Woods were willing to spend $340,000 to get. But 6 months after construction began that's all it was, a dream, as the couple is out 300gs and also the house they expected. They told Keith how their dream became a nightmare.
Keith SwiftReporting,
This is how Seth and Laurine Woods'
dream house looked on paper. But this is just on paper because in reality they say a contractor took this dream and turned it into a nightmare.
Seth Woods,
"It's like going to hell and back. I think about it everyday, every night. I can't function. My heart beats. I get up at night at 2 or 3 in the morning and sit on the edge of the bed thinking about what I've done and how I come I've done it this way and why I chose this guy when nobody gave me no information not to. This man really ruined my life and got me where...I try not to show my emotions but when you have $330,000 walk away from you and nothing to show for it, what else can you do man."
This is an unsigned copy of the contract and schedule of 6 payments amounting to $336,442 made between Seth Woods and the contractor. Woods says this is what they got for their money.
Seth Woods,
"That's the northern highway there and people pass this house but the nightmare begins when you go behind that beauty there and go inside of the house and you will what I am talking about. You will see that it is not a house; it is a shell. It is like going inside of a egg shell after you pour all the egg out of it."
A 7NEWS camera crew went inside and at the outset we noticed rough concrete finishes on the front steps and verandah and inferior front doors.
Seth Woods,
"He put up some doors, that's supposed to be doors inside the house, interior doors, he put them up on the outside of the house."
There were busted walls with incomplete wiring and incomplete doorframes. In the place of a cement wall in one of the bathrooms we found sheetrock installed. This is a view inside the attic, which apparently was constructed with its own ventilation in mind as these holes were left on the roof.
And Woods says the contractor walked off the job but not before collecting a final $29,000.
Seth Woods,
"He asked me to give him $37,830 and I said 'sir how could I give you that when I don't see anything that you've done for us, inside our home is like a cell.' He said 'don't worry about everything will be in place. You can't do this without that and you will get it done.' I said 'nah tell you what, let's do it like this, I'll give you a $29,000 check.' The next day I noticed he was doing a lot of incorrect work and I asked him about it. He said he was going to walk away from this because he was tired of me."
And now this retired couple is tired as they look on their planned seaside mansion that now looks more like a roadside dungeon.
Laurine Woods,
"This is the end of our journey. We were planning on having a peaceful time here just to relax and not worry about anything but instead now we have all this to deal with. My husband keeps saying that I am taking it too easy or something like that but its not that I'm taking it easy, its that I just can't fathom that the contractor would do something like this when I put all my trust in him. When he didn't think he would come through, I was always the one that said give him a chance, keep it cool, don't say anything and just see
what he's going to do but instead we got screwed."
Seth Woods,
"I don't know what I'm going to do but I tell you what I'll love to do is get rid of these feelings that I have and live here. Belize is a beautiful place and Belize people are beautiful. I feel comfortable here, I don't want to retire nowhere else. I love Belize but I want to be treated right. I don't want nobody to come and just take away all our money."
Their money and their dream - lost somewhere now in this labyrinth of disrepair.
Construction began in July of last year and was due to be completed at the end of January. Another contractor has estimated it will cost $140,000 more to complete the house. The Woods through their Attorney Ellis Arnold are exploring legal options. And speaking of legal options this evening 7NEWS went to extremes in attempt to get comment from the contractor. He invited us to his attorney's office on New Road but when our team arrived his Attorney Dons Waithe told us his client would not be commenting at this time. He is quoted in today's Amandala as saying he stopped working on the house because he felt threatened by Seth Woods who was walking around the construction site with a gun. It is a charge Woods denies. He told us he always carries a gun for his protection.
7NEWS produced for broadcast by News Director Jules Vasquez
Edited for the internet by Keith Swift
