Watchdog Nation Partners With Mike Holmes

So here's the scenario. An elderly man hires a couple of brothers to trim some trees on his property. While they are there, they point out to the man that his foundation is cracked, and offer to fix the problem. The elderly man shells out an exorbitant amount of money and the two guys patch a few cracks with cement and caulk around some windows, then take off with the money. This is pretty much what happened to 79 year old Royce Benson, who gave two ex-convict brothers $19,000 for foundation repairs that were never done. Luckily for Royce, his story caught the eye of Dave Lieber, a columnist for the Fort Worth Star Telegram. His coverage of Royce's story not only led to the arrest and sentencing of the brothers to four years in prison, but also caught the eye of Mike Holmes, who offered to help make it right for the elderly man. Check out the video and story below from Watchdog Nation:

Watchdog Nation partners with Mike Holmes

We work with the HGTV Star to “Make it Right!”
Watchdog Nation, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and HGTV star Mike Holmes joined with some caring businesses to fix a heartbreaking problem involving an elderly man who lost $19,000.
Royce Benson gave two ex-convict brothers money for foundation repairs that were never done.
The story, which first appeared in a Dave Lieber column in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, led to a series of events that resulted in one the culprits getting sentenced to four years in prison.
After the original story appeared, staff members for Mike Holmes contacted Watchdog Nation and asked if they could help fix the house of 80-year-old Royce Benson for free.

Mike Holmes

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Watchdog Nation worked with Holmes to get area companies and suppliers to donate their time and materials. Thanks to Perma-Pier Foundation Repair of Dallas, Roto-Rooter of Fort Worth and Lowe’s for banding together and, in the motto of Mike Holmes, working to “make it right.”

Royce Benson points to a sample of the awful foundation repair job. He paid $19,000 for nothing.

Hubert Burdick runs a small remodeling business. He promised to do foundation work but never did. Photo: Texas Prison System

Billey Ray Burdick runs a tree-trimming service. He accepted two of Royce Benson's checks that were made out to him. Photo: Texas Prison System

 Read about this story from the January 2011 edition of Holmes Magazine.