The director of a financially troubled construction company in Penticton has been served with two more multi-million dollar lawsuits.
The latest lawsuit against Jason Stutzke and the numbered company doing business as Okanagan Extreme Home Builders was filed on Sept. 4 by AMB Holdings and Panorama View Estates for more than $2.7 million in claims.
Panorama View Estates form a development along Hawthorne Drive on the east side of Penticton.
The lawsuit alleges that Stutzke and OEHB were hired in 2019 to build one of the homes for Panorama View Estates.
That work was completed, and AMB gave them the contract for the next two lots that were sold, allegedly in exchange for half of the profits.
AMB is claiming it never received the $125,000 it was owed as part of that arrangement, which they further claim were siphoned off as management fees to Stutzke.
That amount is only the tip of the alleged iceberg,
A third lot with a similar 50/50 deal was alleged to have not split the profit of $108,000.
Initially, OEHB verbally promised to build six more lots that AMB had purchased, but only provided bids on four of them in 2021, ranging from $718,000 to $970,000.
Those bids were then increased by $80,000 a piece due to rising construction costs.
Out of the four lots, only one, which OEHB said they would build for $900,000 after the increase, was completed by AMB for a total price of $965,000.
One of the remaining lots was partially completed by the time AMB pulled the plug over discovering various builders' liens against Stutzke and OEHB. AMB stated that they expect to have to pay another $120,000 on top of the $970,000 paid to OEHB to complete the home.
The other two lots only had footings poured before AMB ceased working with OEHB, and AMB is seeking the $1.8 million paid in advance for their construction less the cost of the footings.
AMB is also seeking over $207,000, which was paid out to allegedly unpaid contractors on OEHB's behalf. Another $62,000 remains allegedly unpaid.
Another $100,000 went into a loan for a foam truck that Stutzke allegedly bought for the jobs.
The company also claims that Stutzke took a temporary sales office trailer from Hawthorne Drive and took it up to his home on Garnet Way.
AMB believes the money was directed into Stutzke's Garnet Way home.
The lawsuit states that Stutzke told the company after a fire in November that the insurance company didn't pay out for the home, but that he had invested $3.5 million into it since the fire.
Lastly, the company is seeking either an accounting for $285,000 in land development funding or the return of its money.
No response has yet been filed in response to AMB's claim.
Since the Western News last reported on the legal troubles facing Stutzke, a second foreclosure lawsuit was filed in the BC Supreme Court over a mortgage he has allegedly defaulted on.
The claim filed by the Cambridge Mortgage Investment Corporation on June 25 seeks payment for the $2.67 million mortgage and comes just three months after a previous foreclosure claim was filed by two numbered companies over a different $2.5 million mortgage.
Stutzke's Aug. 15 response to the latest foreclosure claim, like his response to the first, argues that the fair market value of the property exceeds the mortgage and that as a result the mortgage is adequately secured.
The response also claims that Stutzke is in the middle of refinancing to ensure any outstanding amounts for the mortgage are paid in full.
What is different from the response to the previous foreclosure claim is Stutzke's claim that an appraisal report from May of 2024 assessed the value of the property at Garnet Way at $8.6 million.
The property is listed at $4.3 million according to BC Assessment and is up for sale for $17 million.
None of these claims from the involved parties have been proven in court.