Where Norm and Janet MacKell's dream house was supposed to be built, there is nothing but an empty field.
 
"We were hoping to build our custom dream home with Jager. But since then, a year and a half has gone by, and we have nothing but a set of plans and an empty lot," said Janet MacKell.

They were so excited, they chose to get married here in June, 2005. Their picture was even used to promote the Chestermere development. Still, more than a year later, no house, not even a sign of construction.
 
"It's very upsetting to know we were one of the first couples to put a lot hold for this space, and to see that other Jager customers have since taken possession of homes and we haven't, it's very upsetting," said MacKell.

Manning Fung is another Jager customer.  He moved into his Tuscany home two months ago, but it's still not finished. The bathroom counter had to be ripped out because the original one blocked the door. There are also exposed wires, missing window casings, cracked cabinets, and questionable finishing and tile work, mis-matched and incomplete downspouts and unfinished stone work.
 
"If we didn't take the house, the house wouldn't belong to us. It's been awfully frustrating. The response from site supervisor, as quoted, is that the management has bigger fish to fry," said Manning Fung.

After leaving several messages with Alanridge and Jager Homes, no one returned out calls.  So we went to their southeast Calgary offices to see if anyone would talk to us.  After initially hesitating, the CEO of Jager Homes agreed to answer our questions.

"The Fung's house started long before I got here. The original owner died, his wife took over the company, the company was sold to another investment group, and there's been a lot of staff changes, a lot of management changes," said Jager Homes CEO Don Howie.

Even through all of those changes Howie says it was the Fung's who insisted on getting into their house early.
 
"We were asked by the Fung's to deliver the house early, and we told them it would be unfinished, and they insisted they get it," said Howie.

As for the MacKell's, Howie says he can't say much because he hasn't seen their file.
 
"I can't find it. It's not like I've been looking through the whole office, I just haven't seen it yet," said Howie.

The whole mess is now being looked into by the Calgary Regional Homebuilders Association.

"We're not a regulatory body, we just simply have a membership, and if we feel that that member is in violation of our code of ethics, that membership can be terminated, or may not be terminated, depending on what is found out," said Ryan Ockey of the CRHA. He says there is a mediation process that can be used through the new Home Warranty Program.

Even though it doesn't exist, the MacKell's say they can't walk away from their dream house.   They risk losing their $70,000 deposit, and because house prices have gone up so much, building the same house now would be too expensive.

"Another two years to try and get that house fixed, or do we want to spend two years in court," said MacKell.

They've decided to wait, but they don't expect to move in anytime soon.