Why did Alison Victoria sue Donovan Eckhardt? 'Ugliest House in America' host 'disappointed' by former business partner
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: Alison Victoria is a famed designer of Chicago who has worked hard in the field to bag to name for herself. However, things were not always shiny for the 'Ugliest House in America' host. However, the designer got into hot water while filming for 'Windy City Rehab.'
HGTV star Alison got into a legal feud with her business partner Donovan Eckhardt, with whom she formed a joint company called Gremark Development Group. Alison and Donovan used to work together on renovation projects. Things went south when both fell into disagreement over design choices, budgets, and project management. As we wait for the release of 'Ugliest House in America' Season 4, let us go down the road of Alison's messy past.
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What happened between Alison Victoria and Donovan Eckhardt?
Alison and Donovan together build a company where they took care of renovation projects. Alison was in charge of interior designing while Donovan, who is real estate developer, used to handle construction, project management, and property flipping. He also served as contractor and project manager for the renovation projects. Alison and Donovan's partnership ended after first season of 'Windy City Rehab'.
They faced several legal issues related to their partnership. In 2019, Chicago suspended the permit of 'Windy City Rehab' after finding several violations. These issues included permits and code violations. Donovan's name came up in many of the city's complaints and he was sued by multiple homeowners for his shoddy workmanship. This led to Alison cutting ties with Donovan claiming she was "disappointed" with the legal issues. Donovan's mistakes caused damaged to Alison's values and principles as a businesswoman. Therefore, she parted ways with Donovan, leaving the real estate development business.
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Why did Alison Victoria file a lawsuit against Donovan Eckhardt?
Alison filed a lawsuit against Donovan in 2020. Home Beautiful reported her saying, "I just filed my first lawsuit against Donovan." She then explained the reason, "I have people trying to sue me for the construction of the home, which I don’t do." Alison slammed Donovan for not taking care of the finances, saying, "When the time comes to write checks, everybody looks to me because he won’t return anyone’s phone calls." Therefore, she had to spend $700,000 of her own money on projects that Donovan mishandled.
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Did Alison Victoria win lawsuit against Donovan Eckhardt?
After Alison's lawsuit, Donovan fired back by filing a defamation lawsuit against Alison and her attorney Michael Weinstein. He accused Alison of false claims and defamatory statements, which caused him financial harms and reputational damage. According to reports, Donovan's case was dismissed by a California court. The court claimed that the lawsuit lacked sufficient evidence to support his allegation of defamation. In return, Donovan was told by court to pay Victoria's attorney fees and all related costs after the lawsuit was dismissed.
'Ugliest House in America' Season 4 will release on August 7, at 8/7c on HGTV.