An HGTV star is getting nailed by Minneapolis officials for failing to hammer out the home renovations she promised in a timely manner.
“Rehab Addict” host Nicole Curtis, who paid just $2 to the city for a north Minneapolis fixer-upper almost four years ago, was contractually obligated to “substantially complete construction” within a year — but all her feet-dragging has neighbors kvetching and city officials considering reclaiming the condemned home, reports the Star-Tribune.
Council member Blong Yang and other officials reportedly toured the property late last month and met with Curtis, but the home-rehab guru “didn't say much,” Yang told the paper.
“I don’t know what the plan is,” he said. “I think we as a city have to figure out what to do at this point, because it has been a burden on the neighbors who live there.”
The property is reportedly also on the hook for unpaid taxes from 2015.
Soon after meeting with city staff, Curtis held a June 26 open house at the ramshackle home, charging a $5 entry fee to benefit her friend fighting cancer — an event her neighbors apparently scorned.
“We decided to come down to the event today not to distract from the money going to a good cause but to point out the fact that this is a charade and a lie,” Jon Lundberg told CBS affiliate WCCO.
A rep for the reality TV star did not immediately return a request for comment, but Curtis herself took to Facebook to slam the “disgraceful people who harassed and bullied people” at the fund-raising open house — which, according to her, even drew a police presence.
"The long and short of it is I wrote done big checks to people we felt we could trust to get this done -and it didn't," she wrote in a comment. "By the time we got caught up to speed -it was a hot mess and we were onto other projects and quite frankly, my family comes first."
In response to one person who point-blank asked Curtis on June 30 why she hadn’t completed the work yet, she replied, “Blong yang saw me Saturday --and has my cell phone :).”
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