'I'm no one's victim': Muskoka cottager defrauded by 'con man' takes matters into her own hands

Paradise Lane isn't what it used to be.

But Liz Saunders is committed to seeing the cottage her family has enjoyed on the Bracebridge laneway for decades restored after a convicted fraudster hired to renovate it left the heirloom in shambles.

I am no one's victim," said the former legal secretary and daughter of a lawyer turned judge who has teamed up with Colin Hunter, a Port Sydney resident and HGTV personality, to launch a GoFundMe and get the work completed.

Scott Eisemann, the contractor Saunders hired in 2018, is now facing multiple fraud charges in connection with allegations made to OPP in Orillia and Bracebridge.

^{Scott Eisemann. | Toronto Police Service photo}

His sweet spot was people with a family cottage or a cottage that people are very attached to," Saunders said. Those of us who are sentimental about a building, I guess can be fooled."

Hunter has a bit of a soft spot" for family cottages having lost one to a family member back when he was a kid.

When the story of what happened to Saunders hit social media, Hunter's clients and friends began tagging him in posts alerting him to the situation.

He knew immediately he had the skills to offer some help. I've done a lot of rescuing cottages that are near their demise," he said. The house I live in, everyone said it was a tear down, and I rescued it."

Saunders said she spent nearly two years without her cottage, sleeping in a Bunkie on the property, while Eisemann took her money and procrastinated on the work.

He gave her a fake name when they first met and a business card that read just Scotty" of Cottage Life Construction Inc.

What he did tackle, he left in disarray, as evidenced by a cottage now crookedly sitting six feet in the air on risers, and shifting a little more every day.

It just shows poor workmanship, poor judgment," said Hunter.

^{A sign warns of the inherent danger on the property where Liz Saunders' family cottage sits waiting to be restored. JUNE 2021 | Kristyn Anthony/Metroland}

Having lost nearly $64,000 in the process of renovating her cottage, $59,000 of which she said she lost to Eisemann, Saunders has started a crowdfunding page to get the work done.

Upon reaching her goal, she would like to pay back other contractors Eisemann also allegedly walked away from who performed work on her property at his direction.

People don't understand, a good con man, this is what he does for a living," she said.

^{The Bracebridge family cottage that Liz Saunders hired a contractor to renovate remains on risers one year after it was hoisted. JUNE 2021 | Kristyn Anthony/Metroland}

Saunders has connected privately with others Eisemann has targeted, some of whom have reported him to police, but she believes there are more out there who have yet to come forward.

Instances like this can straddle the line between what a civil lawsuit addresses and where criminal charges can be laid and Saunders wants people to know they have recourse to take action.

Eisemann is scheduled to appear in a Bracebridge court July 7. None of the charges have been proved in court.