The I-TEAM spoke with the customers who said they signed contracts with Couturier between 2018 and 2022 and paid him down payments for the work. Six of those customers have filed lawsuits against the contractor, asking for their money to be returned.
The News4JAX I-TEAM spoke with the customers who said they signed contracts with Couturier between 2018 and 2022 and paid him down payments for the work. Six of those customers have filed lawsuits against the contractor in Duval County court, asking for their money to be returned.
He said North Florida Leisure was supposed to finish the project last January, in 2022. He said he gave Couturier four payments totaling $18,000 toward the job, which was quoted at $28,000. Wills said each time he asked the owner about why it is taking so long to finish the job, he was given different excuses.
Wills tells the I-TEAM he has not filed a civil lawsuit against Couturier, but six other homeowners have taken the contractor to court for similar reasons.One woman, a local teacher, said she is suing the contractor for the money she paid him after she said she has waited more than five months for him to finish the screened-in porch in the backyard of her Jacksonville home. She is suing for $7,404.
We wanted answers from Couturier and to get his side of the story as to why he has taken money from customers and not completed the work. We went to his home and knocked on his door. He spoke with the I-TEAM willingly. He also asked for a second interview to explain his situation, so we met with him again. He insisted he is an honest contractor whose business was negatively affected by the pandemic.
When we asked the contractor about Wills, who said Couturier has avoided his calls and had not done anything more than build a concrete pad in his backyard, he replied, “I did do a concrete patio for him, so I obviously did something for him. I do not avoid his calls.”We should point out, Barry Wills texted Couturier when we interviewed him and days later had still not heard from Wills. Couturier did return a message from Wills, after we knocked on his door.
Maybe so, but according to court records of the six lawsuits filed against Couturier, a judge has ruled against him in four of them, ordering him to pay back the customers. With the other two lawsuits, the contractor has been ordered to appear in court to explain why he took money for work he did not finish.
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