Man Accused of Illegal Home Improvement: 'Try to Help a Friend'

A New Fairfield man was arrested on charges he illegally made more than $200,000 worth of home improvements to a Newtown residence following an investigation by the Department of Consumer Protection and Attorney General’s office, officials said.

Edward Watts, 40, of Sunset Drive, New Fairfield, whom officials also list as living on East Hayestown Road in Danbury, came to the Newtown police department on Thursday, July 7 to turn himself in on an arrest warrant charging him with making home improvements without a certificate of registration.

"I will be fighting this," Watts said Tuesday, July 12. "I have done nothing wrong except try to help a friend."

The allegations date to two years ago when Watts offered to build an in-law apartment for $225,632 for a 71-year-old Newtown woman who lives on Gopher Road with her daughter and son-in-law, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

Reached by phone, the 71-year-old woman's daughter, who had filed a complaint with the state Department of Consumer Protection, declined to comment.

Watts said he agreed to take on the job because he was friends with the homeowners and didn't want to see them get ripped off, saying he has extensive experience in construction when he lived in England and also professionally as part of a large construction company overseeing projects.

"We were actually the best of friends," Watts said of the homeowners. "Our kids play together, wives went out together."

Watts was given a deposit of $15,000 on August 4, 2009 as part of an agreement to construct the in-law apartment, and over the course of doing the work, received additional checks, which totaled $221,300, including the deposit, according to the affidavit.

The woman’s daughter complained to state officials saying Watts and another man allegedly did work on the construction through February 2010 but then stopped in July of that year and allegedly refused to continue, according to the affidavit. Watts allegedly said that much of the $221,300 was gone even though a substantial amount of work remained, according to the affidavit.

"They wanted to continue building their house without funding it," Watts said. "When the work escalated and the price didn't, I stopped."

State officials said that while Watts had registered a business with the Department of Consumer Protection, he and the limited liability company that he had created was not registered to do work as a home improvement contractor.

Watts said he may have supervised the work but he didn't do any of the work, which he said was done by fully licensed professionals. He also said the LLC did have someone who was registered as a home improvement contractor, which he said he had been told would be sufficient.

"Everything that was done on the job was done by a licensed person," he said.

In addition, Watts said that all of the money went into buying materials and paying for the labor and that he received no compensation for his involvement.

"Everything that they gave me went back into the house," he said.

Following his arrest, Watts was released on $100 bond and is to appear July 21 in state Superior Court in Danbury.

The case is now being handled by the State's Attorney, although it originated from the Attorney General's office. Typically, the Attorney General doesn’t get involved in criminal cases, though in home improvement contractor cases, the office acts as special state’s attorneys, spokeswoman Susan Kinsman said.

Editor's note: Since its original publication, this article has been updated with comments from Edward Watts.