A Penticton-based construction company facing numerous legal battles alleging he owes millions of dollars has another collection demand coming.
On Aug. 21, the courts demanded Okanagan Extreme Home Builders (OEHB) and its owner, Jason Stutzke, pay up more than the $2.5 million he owes on a mortgage. They served Stutzke with a foreclosure petition back during the spring of 2024.
Stutzke has been served with continuous lawsuits for the last two years and has already been ordered to pay some debt claims against them.
The company owner has been alleged to have misappropriated funds to pay for the construction of his own home, while contractors have claimed they were left completely unpaid for projects, and homeowners reported facing liens on their homes.
Castanet first reported on the legal predicament in January 2024. In the time since, more alleged unpaid claims involving Stutzke have come forward, totalling millions of dollars.
When Stutzke was first served with a foreclosure petition on his home, following a claim that he defaulted on his mortgage with them last year, he listed his property for sale at $17 million.
That listing was taken down not long after.
His home at 148 Garnet Way was listed at $6,499,000 in the spring, including the note that it was a court-ordered sale.
This was due to a petition that was first filed back in June 2024, with the Cambridge Mortgage Investment Corporation seeking an order that the lands and any personal property of Stutzke be listed for sale by their own conduct.
The petition stated Stutzke had been in default since April 2024, and a letter sent on May 7, 2024, demanding payment from Stutzke, allegedly went unanswered.
In August, Stutzke filed a reply to the petition, arguing that the fair market value of his property exceeds the outstanding amount of his mortgage and claiming that an appraisal report from May of 2024 assessed the value of the property at Garnet Way at $8.6 million.
“To date, the outstanding balance of mortgage debt charged to the lands, including the amount due to the petitioner, totals approximately $4,852,852.34 plus interest,” the reply reads.
Since then, the home has been re-listed at $2,999,000 and is still in foreclosure.
The courts ruled that Stutzke has defaulted on this second mortgage, and with the last date for redemption passing, he owes the sum of $2,585,043.99, together with post-judgment interest on that amount from this date to and including the date of payment.
Numerous other lawsuits continue to make their way through the court systems. The allegations in those lawsuits have yet to be proven in court, and all named parties have a right to respond with countersuits should they choose to do so.
