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CBS2 Exclusive: LI Couple Accuses Contractor Of Leaving Their Home Unlivable

EAST WILLISTON, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) – A Long Island couple is taking their complaints against their home improvement contractor to the next level.

They claim they are out hundreds of thousands of dollars, and they're fighting back with a unique campaign to change what they call a flaw in the law.

As CBS2's Carolyn Gusoff exclusively reported, the words "hope, peace and joy" adorn the East Williston home of Corrin and Sean Dunn. But the couple says they had none of that through a year and a half nightmare. A contractor they claim disappeared with their life savings and left their home unlivable.

"No windows, no floors, no kitchen," Corrin said.

"There were mice living in the floors, rain was coming in through our brand new floors – it was disaster," added Sean.

The Dunns documented their saga -- $275,000 they say they paid in full for a renovation, plus four moves in and out of the house with small children.

"I remember begging for the house to be done before my third daughter was born," said Corrin.

"There were a lot of nights we spent crying to be honest. It was difficult," added Sean.

But they are no longer crying. Instead, they are fighting back in unique way.

They created a website to warn consumers: Beware Timothy Ritchie.

They've launched what they call a relentless campaign to expose a flaw in criminal law: Consumers must prove a contractor intended to steal in order to prosecute.

"There is too much of a gray area in the criminal law that allows contractors to get away with stuff that happened to us," Sean said.

"I just don't ever want another individual, another family to be put under this undue financial and emotional stress that we've been through," Corrin added.

"The vast majority of these contractors are good, honest people," said State Senator Phil Boyle.

The Dunns have gotten the attention of the state senator, who agrees intent is hard to prove when work is partially done.

"We need to change the law so we can just look at the facts. We say 'OK, the contractor was paid this much money and this is the work that they did or didn't do,'" he told Gusoff.

The Dunns filed a complaint with the district attorney and a civil lawsuit, and they just learned they'll be fighting on another front. Ritchie is counter-suing for millions, claiming defamation and that the allegations are untrue.

His attorney declined an interview, but court documents assert the delays were not his fault and the work was performed properly.

"We were taken advantage of, and I'm trying to help others first with warning about him. And now I'm being punished for that," said Sean.

The house is finished now, after the Dunns say they had to go deeply into debt to bring it up to code.

With the Nassau County district attorney's investigation ongoing, the Dunns say they hope for justice and a fix to consumer protection laws.

The Nassau County Department of Consumer Affairs ruled that Ritchie was working without a county home improvement license.

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