Suit claims 'Love It or List It' overcharged homeowners and did shoddy rehab work
A North Carolina couple who appeared on HGTV’s Love It Or List It has filed a suit alleging they overpaid for a home makeover that left their property “irreparably damaged.”
Homeowners Deena Murphy and Timothy Sullivan, referred to as “Deena and Sully” in the April 2015 program, say they paid $140,000 to the production company, Big Coat TV, but the amount paid to the contractor was slightly less than $86,000, the Raleigh News & Observer reports.
“The homeowners’ funds essentially pay the cost of creating a stage set for this television series,” the suit alleges. Today and ABC News also covered the suit.
Murphy and Sullivan say the makeover used low-grade industrial carpeting, left some surfaces unpainted, and created holes in the floor “through which vermin could enter the house.”
The show pits designer Hilary Farr, who leads the renovation, against Canadian real estate agent David Visentin, who shows homes for sale to the homeowners. At the end of the show, the renovation is revealed and the homeowners must choose whether to stay in their home or list it for sale.
The suit says the show “is scripted, with ‘roles’ and reactions assigned to the various performers and participants, including the homeowners.”
The CEO and executive producer of Big Coat TV, Maria Armstrong, told the News & Observer she could not comment because of the ongoing litigation. “However, we do intend to vigorously defend what we consider to be false allegations,” she said.
