Having a hit HGTV show has not been the start of wonderful new things for design and renovation expert Alison Victoria. While the first season of Windy City Rehab quickly caught viewers attention, she and former co-host / business partner Donovan Eckhardt were soon hit with numerous stop work orders and violations from the city of Chicago, along with a number of lawsuits related to the homes which had been featured on the series. Now, Alison Victoria is selling her own home with those legal suits still pending, and amid one of the parties suing her trying to freeze her assets.
Season 2 of Windy City Rehab saw designer Alison Victoria come to the harsh realization that contractor Donovan Eckhardt, with whom she operated several businesses so that they could rehab homes together for the show, had, apparently, been less than honest with both business practices and financial matters. This seems to be what led to most of the legal issues now facing Alison Victoria, including Anna and James Morrissey (who have a lawsuit pending against her) attempting to freeze her assets so that she couldn't sell her house. But, according to People, the star has now been able to list the property for $2.295 million.
So, why did the Morrisseys attempt to stop Alison Victoria from selling her home? The couple filed the motion on October 8, noting that they believe the sale of the property was arranged to "fraudulently conceal" Victoria's assets and sought to keep her from “dissipating her assets, including selling any property which she owns or controls.” That filing to freeze Victoria's assets alleged that she recently transferred ownership of her single family home to a new company (which she co-owns) for only $10, and then put the house on the market.
Victoria's lawyer opposed the motion, and it would seem that the judge sided with her, seeing as how the home is currently for sale.
The ongoing saga of Windy City Rehab is one with a lot of layers for a show that only wrapped its second season last week. Trouble began just a few months after the early 2019 run of Season 1, and hasn't let up since, with the number of lawsuits and issues with the city of Chicago growing as time has gone on. Anna and James Morrissey bought a home which was featured on Season 1, and claimed that there were several serious structural issues with property which were revealed after their purchase.
According to the claims in that original complaint, which were filed in December 2019, the Morrisseys' new $1.36 million home had a leak in an upper floor shower which poured several gallons of water into the ceiling of the kitchen, and also water coming in through numerous windows, the master closet and at the top of the second floor stairs. They allege they had been promised a new roof but had to pay for it themselves to the tune of $37,400 (most of which hadn't been reimbursed at the time of filing), while there are also major issues with other areas leaking, masonry and mortar crumbling and even the front door not being installed properly, to the point where it doesn't latch correctly.
That first filing was brought against Alison Victoria, Donovan Eckhardt, their companies, contractor Ermin Pajazetovic and two other businesses related to the rehab and sale, and alleged breach of warranty and contract, consumer fraud, and "defective and shoddy work." They filed a new lawsuit on September 20 of this year, which added Big Table Media (the production company for the show) and Discovery Inc. (the owner of HGTV) to the list of defendants.
There will almost certainly be more news about this suit and others related to Alison Victoria and Windy City Rehab, so be sure to stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest.
