Photo: Courtesy Magnolia Network
They continued, “We will never take away their truth and how they are feeling. We can only say that there are two sides to every story and while we chose not to go public with our truth, because we know how hurtful this feels, we understand that only hearing one side can paint a negative picture.”
“We ask that these threats and piling on without the full story stop, they are the same handful of stories spinning and spinning, looking like there are ‘so many’ hurt people in our wake,'” the statement adds. “So many believe that we are frauds, have hurt people intentionally, and that we are not who we say we are. That is simply not true.”
Courtesy of Magnolia Network
At least three homeowners the Merediths recruited for their show, as well as a local real estate agent they worked with, have come forward in the last few days with stories of shoddy or incomplete work, unsafe conditions, ballooning budgets and timelines, and a lack of communication from the couple.
Home Workfirst debuted on the Discovery+ streaming service in July 2021, when Magnolia Network launched digitally. No episodes are currently visible on the app.
Courtesy Magnolia Network
Aubry Bennion, an acquaintance of Candis’s whose kitchen makeover was filmed forHome Work,shared an18-post Instagram series documentingthe months-long process of the Merediths' remodel of her Utah kitchen that began in the fall of 2019. The posts include receipts, screenshots of text conversations with Candis, and emails with a flooring company claiming they had not been paid. In an interview withToday,published Friday night, Candis confirmed they had not paid the flooring company, Lemco Design. “We were advised not to pay another penny towards her renovation after we were threatened with lawsuits,” she said.
Bennion, an engineering project manager who also runs the crafting companyHello, Maypole, says she was promised a three-week timeline and a $25,000 budget for her project, but after several months with little work done and a surprise increase in budget to $40,000, she still had an empty box where her kitchen had been.
She filed a complaint with the Utah Department of Commerce Division of Consumer Protection in September 2021. The Merediths toldTodaythat they were aware of the filing and were in contact with the state. “We have dealt with every agency that has reached out to us,” Candis said.
Jeff and Teisha Hawley also recounted their renovation experience ina series of Instagram posts. They allege the timeline also increased dramatically for their multi-room project, during which they lived in their basement with their kids. They also claim faulty work and unsafe conditions, sharing a video of an incorrectly installed wood floor that bubbles up when you step on it and claiming that a worker fell through their floor. The Hawleys ended up pulling out of the project altogether after they say the Merediths told them they needed to increase their budget of $45,000 and requested an additional $35,000 to $40,000 to finish.
The Merediths confirmed the budget increase Bennion shared toToday, but would not comment on the Hawleys.
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A third client, mother-of-five Vienna Goates, came forward on Friday.
A former collaborator of the Meredith’s has also shared his history with them.
Provo, Utah-based real estate agent and house flipper, Aaron Oldham ofThe Home Scoop, who says he worked with the Merediths as long ago as 2013, took to social media with his story on Wednesday, hostinga nearly hour-long Instagram Livethat he later posted to his feed. He claims he partnered with the Merediths on a home flipping project that he then planned to sell, but upon touring the house, found numerous code violations that made it structurally unsound. Oldham claims he ended his business dealings with the couple and, with the help of a lawyer, recovered $15,000 he had invested in the property. He completed the project for a total of $65,000 and later sold it, he says.
One client has come to the Merediths' defense after hearing news of the show being pulled.
Jeana Quigley said she worked with the couple on her backyard “reading cottage,” which was going to be featured onHome Work.
“We adamantly deny that we have ever stolen money from these clients, we haven’t defrauded ‘so many families.’ We worked with licensed general contractors. It is true that we are sometimes left with outstanding balances, but we always pay, even if it takes some time for us to make arrangements. To say anything otherwise is truly not ok. We have paid every amount of money we could to make things right and have continued making payments when necessary.”
They admit that at least once, during the Goates family’s project, “money we gave to a general contractor was misallocated.” They call the situation “horrendous” but say, “We can’t fully defend anything without taking down so many others and ruining their livelihood We have to be able to live with that, and again, wouldn’t wish this on anyone.”
The couple also claims they “have not made a single penny” from these projects and have paid out of pocket for certain things “to create an overall positive outcome.”
“One day we may have the courage to put everything out publicly to defend ourselves against the ‘instagram mafia’ that was called up. But in this moment, we know that anything we say will only be turned against us and hurt so many more.”
source: people.com
