A North Vancouver contractor charged with defrauding homeowners by taking their deposits and not completing the work went on trial in B.C. Supreme Court this week.
Don Nelsen has pleaded not guilty to three charges of fraud under $5,000. The charges relate to two skylight installation jobs - one in West Vancouver and one in Vancouver - which were never completed.
Crown counsel Shelley Hulko said Nelsen took deposits of almost $4,000 for that work but never intended to finish the jobs. Hulko said outside the court that in both cases, the homeowners repeatedly tried to reach Nelsen, but were given excuses about why he couldn't complete the work, or were ignored.
Nelsen was originally charged with a fourth count of defrauding a North Vancouver homeowner out of about $25,000. Crown elected not to proceed on that charge as there was not a likelihood of conviction.
Earlier this week, West Van homeowner Kerry Chutter testified that after a contract was signed and a deposit paid, four glass panes were delivered to her Horseshoe Bay home, but Nelsen never showed up to work on the repairs. She eventually received a money order returning $2,300 - over 18 months later.
Testifying in court in his own defence Wednesday, Nelsen said he originally told Chutter's contractor, "I was way too busy to take care of anything like that right now." But Nelsen said the contractor talked him into agreeing to do the work.
Vancouver homeowner Katie Loewen also testified this week about a similar experience in which she gave Nelsen a deposit for work that was never done.
In court Wednesday, Nelsen said Loewen was the one who cancelled several installation dates. "We'd been prepared for quite some time - months in fact," he said. "The weather started to turn," he said. "I knew a big rainstorm was coming."
Nelsen said after that, he left it up to Loewen to get back to him, and assumed "there was no emergency" because "I didn't hear back from her again."
Nelsen said several months later he got a call from a Vancouver police officer, saying his customer had complained about him.
Nelsen said the police officer suggested he return the deposit and he agreed.
He said he had an employee hand over the cash next time they were in the neighbourhood.
"Did you wish to complete this contract?" asked Nelsen's defence lawyer Morgan Fane.
"Absolutely. A hundred per cent," said Nelsen.
"Did you intend to take Ms. Loewen's $900 and not complete this contract?" he asked.
"Never," said Nelsen.
