VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Three weeks after 10 On Your Side highlighted viewers concerns surrounding outstanding code violations on a Virginia Beach property, the property has been cleaned up.

Now, the property at 204 Dorset Ave., in the industrial area west of Town Center, is now, truly, a vacant, vacant lot.

Gone is the burnt-out fifth-wheel camper and cabin cruiser boat, “Penelope,” that had sat on the less than half-an-acre plot for more than two years.

Also missing is the trash and overgrown brush that occupied the slab left over from an old building.

Chris Heidebur, who owns Speedgears on the neighboring property, said after years of asking the city to force the property owner to clean up the lot, everything changed after the 10 On Your Side story.

‘It’s an eyesore,’ 3 years following deadly fire, a burned out camper remains on VB lot

"Literally, I got here in the morning, the day or so after the news interview, and [the city] had people out here cleaning up the weeds and cleaning out the camper and pretty much cleaning it all up," Heidebur said. "I said, 'Well, your city sure can move fast once the news gets on them.'"

Susan Whitehurst, who owns the Whitehurst Auto Tech building on the other side of the property, also was amazed at the speed.

"I am so excited," Whitehurst said. "I was stunned. I was shocked. I couldn't believe that they got on it so quickly."

The property is owned by Rezainik Management Group, LLC, and has been since 2000, according to Virginia Beach land records. Mehdi Michael Rezainik is listed as the manager.

Following a deadly fire inside the camper in December 2022, Rezainik was issued a violation by the city in July 2023 for having junk on the property, including the “burned down 5th wheel camper.”

While a city spokesperson said legal action was being initiated back then, no action was ever taken, as "police have not been able to locate the property owner to serve them with the criminal summonses.”

However, video shows Rezainik appeared in-person twice at Virginia Beach City Hall in September 2023.

Under state law, localities have the right to correct violations and send proepty owners the bill.

Whitehurst and Heidebur want to know what took so long in this case.

When a code violation is present, we mail a notice of violation to all involved parties that explains the time allowed for compliance. Depending on the violation, this can range from seven days (e.g. junk/grass/trash issues) to 90 days (e.g. building maintenance violations). Most cases are resolved by voluntary compliance.

When the responsible party fails to comply within the specified timeframe, Code Enforcement initiates criminal court action by issuing a summons through the Magistrate’s Office, which are sent to Police to obtain service. When summonses are unable to be served, Code Enforcement can reevaluate whether contractual abatement is feasible.

We followed this process in the Dorset Avenue case when we could not gain voluntary compliance and Police were unable to locate the responsible party to serve the summons, which contributed to the length of time. We were able to coordinate with multiple contractors to facilitate a solution.

Yes, liens were placed against the property for cost of the cleanup and camper removal. At this time, we do not have information on where the boat and camper were taken to.

— Jasmin Ciesielski
HOUSING & NEIGHBORHOOD PRESERVATION
City of Virginia Beach

A tax lien for more than $3,400 has now been placed on the property to cover the costs of moving the camper, according to city records.

"Definitely, 100% — definitely 10 was on our side today," Heidebur said.

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — It was to be a dream renovation, but it has turned into nothing but a nightmare.

Since June of last year, Glen and Stephanie Liverman, have not been able to live inside their Norview home after they say a renovation started and was never completed.

Virignia Beach-based J&L Home Renovations was to install a new kitchen, bathroom and laundry room for a price of more than $82,000.

While the Livermans have paid out a majority of that money, all they can see inside their home are fresh studs, a new toilet, electrical wiring and outlet boxes.

What they haven't seen or heard from in months are the contractors.

A look inside the Liverman home after they say work was started by J&L Home Renovations and never completed. (WAVY Photo/Wyatt Young)

"The house is torn apart, clothes everywhere. It's in bad condition," said Stephanie Liverman, 59. "We are without a dollar to our name. Now we we want to know why did these people do us this way?"

The Livermans said they decided on the renovation to their 80-year-old home in 2023, following Glen's retirement from Sentara.

"I'm very proud of him and I wanted to do something special for us," said Liverman, who also worked for Sentara.

Stephanie said at that time, Google reviews of J&L Home Renovations didn't show any red flags and initially, work began on the house.

However in Spring 2024, Stephanie was admitted to the hospital. By the time she discharged from a rehab center, the work had stopped.

"They had already torn down walls, they torn down the ceiling and the floors and we were like, they just left us," Stephanie said. "Left us with nothing."

Stephanie said she had used Glen's pension to pay for the work. At the time of our interview she said she paid J & L roughly $78,000.

They have paid more than $4,000 to stay at a hotel receipts show. Now, they are staying with a friend.

"They took our money and ran and haven't come back yet," Stephanie said. "But during a hotel stay, we spoke with them, and we asked them 'can you at least give us some of our money back?' And they said, 'no, you won't need it. It's just going to be two more weeks. We've been waiting for materials'."

J&L Home Renovations, LLC was formed in 2019 by Jeff A. Brown according to records with the State Corporation Commission.

In October 2020, Brown purchased property at 125 Butternut Lane and set up and office according to city records.

However in December 2024, he sold the building for $345,000 more than he bought it for.

His business line is now disconnected and while the Virginia Beach Commissioner of the Revenue's office states he still has an active business license until March, he has not applied for a renewal.

10 On Your Side tried to get in contact with Brown, 39, numerous ways. Nobody answered the door at his home in Little Neck.

A google review suggests the company has gone bankrupt, however no filing has been made in the companies name in bankruptcy court.

In small claims court however, there is various claims people from across Hampton Roads are looking for thousands of dollars from Brown and his company.

The Virginia Board of Contractors has also fined Brown three separate times following complaints.

Investigators determined J&L failed to comply with terms of written contracts, including letting customers know when work would start and end, pulling permits and sometimes they failed to use a written contract at all.

"J&L Home renovations needs to be stopped," Stephanie said. "We want to go home. This is where we live, eat, breathe. We have enough room in that house where we can put foster children out there, they need a home. People that need home. We want to give back to. But we can't give back like this."

The board required to remedial education for J&L and even required reports back on their progress.

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) — It's times like these when having a close-knit community is both a blessing and a curse.

A curse, because upon hearing the origin of American Eagle flight 5342, Jill Stewart, Tidewater Figure Skating Club's skating director, knew she'd likely know, or know of, victims.

A blessing, because she knows the figure skating community will "rise."

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"We have, all the coaches on my staff, have some sort of a connection to someone who was on that plane last night," Stewart said.

The Prevagen U.S. Figure Skating Championship, the final qualifier for the U.S. World and Junior Championship teams, concluded Sunday in Wichita and was immediately followed by the National Development Camp.

It was confirmed early Thursday that a dozen or more elite figure skaters were onboard.

"I had someone from U.S. figure skating 'cause I've done some work with them as well, and she just relocated to England. She sent me a text this morning to see if we were OK," Stewart said.

While none of the students Stewart coaches attended this year, she said one 12-year-old is in the pipeline to attend next year.

"His mom messaged me this morning saying his text messages were blowing up because a lot of the friends that he has skated with and has gone to events with were on that flight last night," Stewart said. "It's a very close-knit community."

This is not the first air tragedy in the U.S. figure skating community.

The 18-member U.S. team that was set to compete in the world championships in Prague died when Sabena Flight 548 crashed on Feb. 15, 1961, in Berg-Kampenhout, about 45 minutes outside of Brussels.

Six U.S. coaches and four skating officials, along with some family members, also died.

"It's kind of déjà vu, but our community will rally," Stewart said. "We're very supportive of each other and and we will rise. I just feel that, hopefully, when the impact happened, it happened very quickly and they didn't suffer."

The Tidewater Figure Skating Club meets at Chilled Ponds in both Chesapeake and Yorktown as well as Iceland of Hampton Roads in Virginia Beach.