How A Hit Remodel Show Became One Of HGTV's Messiest Scandals

Alison Victoria entered the TV home-renovation space with her 2011 series "Kitchen Crashers." A modest hit for the DIY Network, the series propelled its star (real name: Alison Victoria Gramenos) into another series in 2019, HGTV's "Windy City Rehab," in which she transformed rundown houses in her hometown of Chicago. "I would see all these houses and I just would, like, dream of living in one of them one day," she told Roku about how the original idea behind the show coalesced. "It's an even bigger dream to be rehabbing a ton of them now."

The show proved to be a winner for HGTV, and Victoria quickly emerged as one of the network's hottest personalities. The success of the show — which ran for five years — propelled Victoria to other HGTV series, including "Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge," "Battle on the Beach," "Rock the Block," and "Ugliest House in America."

While "Windy City Rehab" was the cornerstone of Victoria's successful home-renovation brand — which also included her own design firm — there was trouble brewing behind the scenes that eventually erupted. This created a nasty scenario full of high-stakes drama, bitter betrayal, and a flurry of lawsuits. It's one heckuva story, featuring some sad details about HGTV star Victoria that fans don't see on TV, so buckle up and read on to find out how a hit remodel show became one of HGTV's messiest scandals.

From the perspective of viewers, Alison Victoria's efforts on "Windy City Rehab" to beautify Chicago were overwhelmingly successful. That proved to be something of an illusion shortly after the series' premiere, when the show was hit with a 2019 stop-work order by the Chicago Department of Buildings prompted by complaints by the neighbors of a "Windy City Rehab" construction zone. This was not, however, one of those scandalous rumors about HGTV's biggest stars we can't ignore, but a cold, hard fact. Those complaints alleged that Victoria's "Windy City Rehab" co-star, contractor Donovan Eckhardt, had been performing renovations on a home in the city's Bucktown neighborhood without obtaining the required permits.

Prior to the stop-work order, Eckhardt had met with city officials, but the continued building without permits across Chicago — even after the stop-work order — came with real consequences. Just two months after the city issued the order, further accusations came in that Victoria and Eckhardt continued to work without acquiring permits. That led the Chicago Department of Buildings to recommend that Eckhardt's general contractor license and residential real estate developer license both be suspended for a full year.

Victoria and Eckhardt appealed the city's decision to suspend those licenses. However, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that the problem extended beyond a single home, with 11 total properties (of which three were in the 1st season of "Windy City Rehab") reportedly not having the proper permits and utilizing unlicensed tradespeople. As a result, the work that was done did not meet the city's building code, and "poses an immediate or imminent threat to the health and safety of workers or the public."

True to its word, in July 2019, the Chicago Department of Buildings pulled the plug on "Windy City Rehab" contractor Donovan Eckhardt's license to develop real estate. According to the department, Eckhardt built three garages and garage decks without the necessary permits. He was also accused of neglecting to put up safety barriers when removing flooring, which the city contended placed workers on the site at risk. That suspension also applied to Alison Victoria, who saw her permit privileges likewise suspended. While this was seemingly a major blow to the continuing success of "Windy City Rehab," there was a twist: the city had sought to suspend those licenses for a year, but that time period was eventually reduced to just 45 days.

Meanwhile, the city had also issued stop-work orders for 13 properties that Victoria and Eckhardt were renovating, some for the show. Eckhardt, however, fired back by claiming that the illegal work wasn't done by him, nor at his direction, but by people whom he authorized to do the work — who had somehow gone rogue. That was an excuse, however, that the department was not buying. "Eckhardt does not contest that he had authority to supervise and direct work done by co-owners or agents, only that he was unable to effectively do so due to other commitments," the city said in its suspension order.

So where did that leave Victoria, Eckhardt, and "Windy City Rehab?" From the city's perspective, if they followed the rules and kept their noses clean, they could apply to have their licenses reinstated, and carry on the work that had made them HGTV stars.

Just a few months after "Windy City Rehab" stars Alison Victoria and Donovan Eckhardt had their real estate developer licenses suspended, the duo were hit with a lawsuit in December 2019 from James and Anna Morrissey, who purchased one of the show's renovated Chicago homes. The Morrisseys claimed the 4,000-square-foot home — which they purchased for nearly $1.4 million — was bursting with problems, which they blamed on shoddy workmanship during the made-for-TV home renovation. The defendants named in the lawsuit were Victoria, Eckhardt, Eckhardt's Greymark Development Group, Victoria's design firm (Alison Victoria Interiors Inc.), contractor Ermin Pajazetovic, and other related business entities.

According to the Morrisseys' lawsuit, the day after they closed on the purchase, a leak erupted in the shower on an upper floor, which dumped gallons of water into the kitchen ceiling. They also pointed to numerous other problems with the home, including its leaking roof. Among the lawsuit's many claims was breach of contract, breach of warranty, and consumer fraud. Victoria responded via email to the Chicago Sun-Times, insisting that she addressed all their issues. "I worked directly with the Morrissey's [sic] to resolve any issues of concern related to their home renovation," she wrote.

The lawsuit dragged on, with the homeowners seeking to have Victoria's assets frozen. In 2021, the lawsuit ended when a settlement was reached. "The resolution of this matter has come primarily through Donovan's efforts in working towards an agreement satisfactory to all parties involved," Eckhardt's attorney told Chicago's Fox 32.

The same day that "Windy City Rehab" stars Alison Victoria and Donovan Eckhardt were being sued by a dissatisfied buyer of one of their renovated properties, Eckhardt was hit with another — entirely different – lawsuit. In this legal action, subcontractor Ermin Pajazetovic — who was named as a defendant in the previous suit — sued Eckhardt, alleging that his company, Space Builders, was owed $108,500 for work Pajazetovic performed on a different renovation.

Meanwhile, all that legal drama came to the forefront in the premiere of the 2nd season of "Windy City Rehab" in September 2020. As People reported, Victoria applied for a bank loan and was shocked to discover she was turned down. That led her to discover that much of the money for a project that had been put on hold was paid out to Eckhardt's company. She began digging around and was disturbed by what she uncovered. "I don't know what to believe anymore," Victoria said in the episode. "For so long, I was letting [Eckhardt] run all the budgets, do all the bank draws, deal with the bank accounts and I was just designing. It's been shocking."

Captured on camera, that episode marked the moment when Victoria's relationship with Eckhardt — both personally and professionally — began to unravel. It was, however, just the beginning of a fraught situation that was about to become a whole lot worse, as the once-simpatico duo became one of the HGTV couples with the worst onscreen chemistry.

As viewers of "Windy City Rehab" came to understand in that 2nd-season premiere, the partnership of Alison Victoria and Donovan Eckhardt had become frayed. Their working relationship fractured even further the more she began poking around into their financial affairs. Her investigations, reported the Chicago Sun-Times, led her to discover that her name had allegedly been forged on various documents, including bank loans.

In February 2020, Victoria filed a lawsuit, accusing a notary public of forging her signature. Underscoring the urgency of her concerns, she requested a temporary restraining order (which a judge granted) prohibiting notary Adriana Rodriguez from notarizing any documents relating to her. In her suit, Victoria didn't directly name Eckhardt, but it was easy to read between the lines when her suit referenced an unnamed person with whom she was "engaged in a cooperative enterprise."

However, anyone with even a cursory knowledge of the business relationship between Victoria and Eckhardt could see that the partnership that had brought them to the heights of HGTV was quickly coming undone. Unfortunately, things would only deteriorate from there, and ultimately result in one of HGTV's biggest scandals ever. Meanwhile, when fans wonder how much HGTV star Victoria is worth, it's important to factor in the financial setbacks she experienced during this period.

Soon after the lawsuit filed by James and Anna Morrissey, Alison Victoria was sued by another disgruntled homeowner who was far from satisfied with the "Windy City Rehab"-renovated home they purchased. This time, reported the Chicago Sun-Times, couple Shane Jones and Samantha Mostaccio filed a similar lawsuit in April 2020, alleging they were fraudulently duped into buying the home, which boasted an even greater degree of shoddy work than the Morrisseys' home.

In their suit, the couple not only wanted a full refund of the $1.3 million they paid for the place, but also requested that HGTV pull "Windy City Rehab" off the air, claiming the show was "deceptive" by depicting Alison Victoria and Donovan Eckhardt as "superstar experts" who were skilled at pulling off "compelling and stunning transformations." The suit listed numerous deficiencies brought about by the subpar workmanship, which they claimed required more than $100,000 of repairs to correct.

While neither Eckhardt, Victoria, nor HGTV's parent company commented, plaintiff Mostaccio opened up about the financial hardships they were forced to endure because of their decision to buy a home they watched being renovated on television. "To think that they just take advantage of families is really just upsetting to us," Mostaccio told the newspaper. In December 2020, the lawsuit was settled. Although details of how that came to be were not divulged, Victoria confirmed all was well when she took to Instagram, and wrote that she was "grateful that the plaintiffs are now satisfied and that this unfortunate misunderstanding has been put behind them."

Homeowners who purchased the renovated results from Alison Victoria's "Windy City Rehab" makeovers weren't the only ones taking her to court over allegations of fraud. In June 2020, a former friend of Donovan Eckhardt, Michael Ward Jr., launched a lawsuit built upon some shocking claims. His suit alleged that Ward and his family — impressed by what they witnessed on HGTV — put up $3 million to bolster the house-flipping efforts of Victoria and Eckhardt. While he expected his investment to yield a financial windfall, he experienced nothing of the sort.

Instead, his lawsuit (via the Chicago Sun-Times) alleged that the two were engaged in "a deliberate and fraudulent scheme to misappropriate funds," and that they were guilty of "bungling" things and had mismanaged "nearly every project they were associated with." Ward also alleged that Eckhardt made false claims that he maintained tight connections with the Chicago Department of Buildings. The lawsuit also disputed Victoria's claims of being surprised to discover Eckhardt's allegedly fraudulent activities, suggesting that she was actually an active participant in alleged financial fraud.

Victoria's lawyer, Daniel Lynch, countered those claims, and placed the blame for any alleged fraud squarely on Eckhardt, pointing out that he was the developer and contractor, while Victoria merely did the design work. "The projects did not deliver the financial results that everyone was hoping for," Lynch told the Sun-Times, alleging that Victoria had "suffered substantial losses of her own" due to Eckhardt's shenanigans. Furthermore, Lynch claimed that Victoria attempted to provide documentation to Ward and his family, "but she has not been able to obtain all project documents from Mr. Eckhardt."

With lawsuits flying, the controversy and ongoing scandals surrounding "Windy City Rehab" were tough to ignore. When Alison Victoria moved forward with the HGTV hit, her onetime contractor Donovan Eckhardt was left behind. What was once a seemingly successful partnership, both onscreen and behind the scenes, had been shattered beyond all repair.

In the midst of all this, Eckhardt made a surprising legal move by suing HGTV's parent company in a $2.2-million defamation suit, claiming that Victoria had wrongfully disparaged him. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Eckhardt's suit claimed that his former partner portrayed him as a "villain" on the show. Her depiction of him as having ripped her off, he contended, left him suffering with "depression, sleeplessness, loss of appetite," in addition to forcing him to seek counseling to address the "embarrassing, traumatic and humiliating" place he found himself in. To make matters worse, the suit also claimed that his company's revenues crumbled due to the way he was depicted.

When Eckhardt's lawsuit was brought before a judge in Chicago's Cook County, it sank like a stone when the judge dismissed the case on grounds of jurisdiction. The case was then brought to California, where it fared no better, as a judge summarily dismissed the whole thing. According to that judge, Eckhardt's claims he was defamed on the show fell flat. "Simply put, even if Plaintiff produced some evidence that Season 2 was scripted/fictionalized, and/or that Defendant had input regarding the storylines, this is a far cry from evidence that Defendant created any of Gramenos' statements and/or had any knowledge they were false or even a reason to doubt they were true," the judge wrote, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter.

By 2024, Alison Victoria had long since left her former TV co-star and business partner Donovan Eckhardt in the rearview mirror. Interviewed by People, Victoria was candid when describing the process she'd gone through in order to move on from what she characterized as betrayal from someone she trusted implicitly. While viewers were familiar with witnessing the shady side of various HGTV stars, the situation surrounding Victoria and her former "Windy City Rehab" co-star was in a league of its own.

The experience may have been painful, but Victoria had come to realize that it was necessary so she could show her own true colors and prove that she did nothing wrong. "There was no choice but to go through it," she explained. "And through that, everyone got to see what integrity means. Everyone got to see how I showed up and how I never walked away from these problems, how I dealt with them head on and how it cost me everything."

Asked about her one-time partner, her words spoke volumes when she dismissed him ruefully as "Donovan who?" Continuing, she explained that she was moving forward, step by agonizing step, in order to push past the whole awful experience. "It is so far behind me that I don't even look back," she said. "But I know it's so important because when people come up to me, they say, 'I love your show, I love you and watching you go through that has helped me. Thank you for being vulnerable. Thank you for showing it.'"

Realizing she needed to make a clean break, not only did Alison Victoria leave Donovan Eckhardt behind, she also did the same for her hometown when she embarked on a whole new project for HGTV, the 2025 series "Sin City Rehab." Set in Las Vegas (where she went to college at the University of Nevada), the new show presented Victoria with a fresh challenge, allowing her to transfer the skills she'd learned in Chicago to Vegas by renovating decrepit homes in need of her unique brand of HGTV TLC.

As she told Realtor.com, "Sin City Rehab" bore some similarities to her earlier show, but the differences between Chicago and Vegas immediately made the two shows vastly different. "I just walked out of my house and got in my car, and every morning I wake up, I'm like: 'I cannot believe I live here.' The sun is shining every day," she said, admitting she felt like living there was like a permanent location.

For Victoria, "Sin City Rehab" also represented a second chance, an opportunity to start over with a clean slate after all the unsettling scandals from the previous series. "I've faced the noise, the doubt, and the headlines, but I never stopped building," she wrote in the caption for an Instagram post. "'Sin City Rehab' is me, unfiltered. It's about taking back my story, on the streets where it all began, and doing what I do best: turning broken into beautiful."