Home builder in Penticton insists on non-disclosure agreement before repairing damage

A developer in Penticton is refusing to fix damage it did to a neighbouring property unless the neighbour agrees to keep his mouth shut. Jamela Van Steinburg is the CEO of VLS Developments, the company who developed the property next to Brad Schedel’s home in Penticton. Schedel said Steinburg is refusing to repair the damage done to his property unless he agrees to sign an agreement to not make any negative comments about VLS Developments. Schedel said he anticipated the typical inconveniences that come with living next to a construction site and tried to be a good neighbour. He said he patiently waited for the developer to come by to address the damage to his property.  “We had rocks shooting through the cedar fencing and smashing glass objects. It was mental. A fence is collapsing, our driveway sunk, the dust. It just goes on and on,” Schedel said. Schedel alleges there is roughly $10,000 in damages to his property. Steinburg said there is far less damage than Schedel alleges, and she would fix it provided he agrees to not speak publicly about her company or the situation. READ MORE: Why we really need you to sign up to our newsletter https://infotel.ca/opinion/jonesie/jonesie-how-canadian-news-became-victims-in-its-own-story/it105120 “It was just a non-disclosure agreement that I had done. Originally, I had done it with quite legal language,” Steinburg said. Steingburg said she changed the language in the document to be less formal, but it would still require Schedel to not speak publicly about VLS Developments or the situation. Steinburg sent iNFOnews.ca a copy of the recent contract to repair the damages which includes the informal non-disclosure clause. Steinburg said Schedel's wife agreed to not make public negative statements during a conversation.  “There is verbal agreement that no negative comments regarding VLS Developments will be posted in any public format. This is to document our verbal conversation,” the contract said. Schedel said his lawyer advised him not to sign any variation of a non-disclosure agreement, but Steinburg is insistent that no repairs will be done until the document is signed with some kind of clause prohibiting Schedel from sharing any negative comments about her company. The damage was done over the 18 months that the developer was building the neighbouring houses, and Schedel said he waited until the project was nearly complete to ask for repairs in an effort to be a patient and considerate neighbour. Steinburg said she insisted on the non-disclosure clause because Schedel was aggressive from the beginning. She sent iNFOnews.ca a nine second clip where he tells her to “fuck off.” Schedel said he did lose his temper at one point because of Steinburg’s refusal to simply repair the damages, and because there was temporary fencing on his property for more than a year. “I said, ‘get that fucking fencing off my property right now,’” Schedel said. READ MORE: CONTROL AND POWER: Seven women testify against alleged Kamloops serial rapist https://infotel.ca/newsitem/control-and-power-seven-women-testify-against-alleged-kamloops-serial-rapist/it105208 Schedel said he tried to be civil about the situation for more than a year but Steinburg laughed in his face when he asked if she would pay half the cost to replace his sunken driveway, and attempted to bully him into signing an agreement to stay quiet about the situation. “I lost my temper because of that. Enough is enough. I've been cordial. I've been kind, I've been considerate and everything else too, but enough is enough,” Schedel said.  “His behaviour left me in a place with no choice. I did not believe in any way that whatever we did to the property: A; he would be happy with and B; not still publicly discredit my company,” Steinburg said. As it stands now Schedel is refusing to sign away his ability to speak negatively about VLS Developments, so Steinburg is refusing to fix his property. Schedel said he feels the need to speak out and maintain his ability to do so since he won't be fighting the developer in small claims court. He said it would be too expensive and not worth it in the end. “If they're not going to fix the damages to my property, they should at least have a bad reputation,” Schedel said. “Others should be warned.” To contact a reporter for this story, email Jesse Tomas mailto:jtomas@infonews.ca  or call 250-488-3065 or email the editor mailto:news@infonews.ca . You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom mailto:tips@infonews.ca  and be entered to win a monthly prize draw. We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here https://infotel.ca/newsletter .