‘Windy City Rehab’ star wants suit over Bucktown home tossed
Reality TV star Alison Victoria is fighting back against a lawsuit filed by a couple who bought a $1.33 million Bucktown home featured on the show “Windy City Rehab,” arguing that their complaints are without merit and should be thrown out of court.
In motions filed last week, an attorney for Victoria — whose real name is Alison Victoria Gramenos — argued the lawsuit should be dismissed and the other side should be sanctioned by the court.
Attorney Daniel Lynch called the allegations in the suit “misleading and baseless” in an emailed statement to the Chicago SunTimes and said that Victoria’s business, Alison Victoria Interiors, and Discovery Inc.’s HGTV network were dragged into it “in an effort to create negative press attention” and bully Victoria into settling with the buyers.
The buyers of the white brick home at 1700 W. Wabansia Ave. filed a lawsuit in April against Victoria and co-star Donovan Eckhardt and their companies and contractors, alleging fraud and shoddy work and demanding a full refund.
The suit also asks for a permanent injunction to force HGTV to take Victoria and Eckhardt off the air, saying it is “deceptive” to portray them as “superstar experts.”
Their complaint mainly deals with a garage behind the property that homebuyers Shane Jones and Samantha Mostaccio wanted renovated so Mostaccio could have space for her pilates training business and to make videos for her fitness business. The couple claims the garage work wasn’t properly finished, and the work that was done was without a building permit, leading the city to shut down the site.
The lawsuit includes other problems the couple says they found, including electrical outlets in the kitchen not up to code; water infiltrating exterior walls of the home and garage; poorly pitched landscaping; cracked concrete load-bearing columns on the corner of the house; and a “sewage” odor and mold in the basement.
Lynch says Victoria’s contractor was trying to complete repairs when Jones barred him from the property. He says that it’s not possible to claim theoretical losses from the fitness business.
Lynch is asking for sanctions against the plaintiffs and their attorney, whom he argues filed a lawsuit that “is so inaccurate, factually inconsistent and deliberately misleading” that the court should take action.
“Plaintiffs and their counsel took a straightforward dispute and complicated it for improper reasons. There was a final inspection scheduled, and plaintiffs canceled it on the day it was to be conducted. Then, plaintiffs’ counsel filed a complicated 130-page complaint with 13 numbered counts seeking damages that are not recoverable,” Lynch said in his emailed statement to the Sun-Times.
He said that the couple closed on the house after getting an inspection and going over a final punch list.
Attorney Nicole Daniel of Dinsmore & Shohl LLP of Chicago, who is representing the home buyers, declined to comment Wednesday.
Eckhardt and the attorney for subcontractor Ermin Pajazetovic did not respond to emails seeking comment.
Both Victoria and Eckhardt remain suspended from seeking any new building permits in the city, a city Buildings Department spokeswoman said Wednesday. The suspensions will remain in effect until they correct all code issues with previous projects.
Victoria has said the second season of “Windy City Rehab” is expected to air in July.