An Open Letter to Erin Barr
Will the Chesterfield County's Commonwealth Attorney Decline to Investigate as DPOR's Leadership Asserts?
To: Erin Barr, Commonwealth’s Attorney
From: The Virginia Consumer
Date: May 29, 2026
Subject: Unlicensed Work, Substantiated Building Code Violations, Misdemeanors, and Displacement of Families Linked Directly to a Chesterfield Builder’s Common Practice.
Dear Ms. Barr,
I am writing on behalf of the Virginia Consumer and victims of a systemic failure of justice that continues to devastate families across Chesterfield County and the wider Commonwealth. For years, the victims of Gregoire Development Corporation that operates as Covenant Building & Design and Mr. Gregoire’s other corporate interest, Yellowstone Communities LLC, have been forced to navigate a grueling, expensive legal labyrinth.
Today, we are asking a direct question: will your office step in to protect the public and enforce the law?
The Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR) has repeatedly deflected accountability, explicitly claiming that Commonwealth’s Attorneys simply will not prosecute these misdemeanors—even in cases of chronic, repeated offenses—because your offices “don’t want the cases.” I will attach this memo from DPOR’s former Deputy Director Brian Wolford to this letter.
If this is true, it sends a dangerous message to bad actors: that construction fraud, contract abandoment, and operating outside the law carry no real criminal consequences in Virginia.
The scope of the devastation caused by this builder and his associates are staggering and well-documented as:
“Millions” in Financial Losses & Displaced Families: Construction fraud is not a standard contract dispute; it can lead to catastrophic financial losses. Families have been displaced from their homes due to mold and defects, stripped of their life savings, and left to pick up the pieces of shattered lives while the perpetrators face no criminal accountability. My own family has endured 6 figure losses for repairs and medical bills and near equal costs incurred for legal representation and expert reports. Our home still has holes in the ceiling 6 years after close. It has impacted our health and lost its value.
Systemic Unlicensed Subcontracting: Sworn testimony held in Chesterfield’s Circuit Court has now firmly established that unlicensed subcontracting was systematically conducted on numerous homes by this and other builders across the Commonwealth, including right here in Chesterfield County. The covid pandemic was used to shield this builder from timeline requirements while simultaneously used to limit legal recourse for buyers. This is a direct violation of state safety and licensing laws.
It is my understanding that more than 3 instances of this misdemeanor constitutes a felony. Gregoire has stated in testimony that this unlicensed subcontracting is common practice in the industry. This combined with additional regulatory violations that include Gregoire’s false testimony in defense of a license make DPOR’s inaction inexcusable and frankly, suspicious.
A Massive Burden on Taxpayers: Gregoire Development Corp. is currently entangled in over a dozen civil lawsuits. Both Adam and Megan Gregoire are also named personally in legal actions related to the course of their buisness activities. The legal claims are affecting other businesses as well as clients.
Taxpayers are footing the bill for the massive judicial infrastructure required to support these nonstop legal trials, effectively subsidizing the timeline of a non-compliant business.
The Erasing of Public Records: DPOR actively participated in expunging the records of our case and several others. They chose to wipe the slate clean for this builder, completely ignoring the fact that local county officials explicitly confirmed severe building code violations and documented unlicensed work on the ground. They claimed “lack of evidence” or “no violation” while Free Williams, Director of Adjudication, removes evidence prior to the IFF hearings or deems it inadmissible without any reasoning. This includes testimonies from Virginia’s own county building inspectors.
DPOR then pointed to the Commonwealth Attorneys, your offices, as responsible for repeat offenders during a local television interview. Again, confirmed in written memos obtained by FOIA disclosures. DPOR’s Communications Manager, John Robertson IV, also claimed to send cases to the Attorney General which was proven to be misleading as the only case ever sent to the Attorney General was the one covered in that particular broadcast. Just that one.
As we both understand, the Attorney General would not be the proper office for escalation. It would be your office or the Commonwealth Attorney of the appropriate county. I’ve included the confirmation of DPOR’s misleading assertion from the former attorney general’s office attached as well.
I am hoping your unaffiliated political status means that you are still working for the public good here in Chesterfield.
When regulatory agencies expunge the evidence and claim that local prosecutors don’t care enough to take the cases, the system breaks entirely.
The civil courts are exhausted, the regulatory board has failed us, and the financial and emotional toll on our community is unsustainable. The evidence of repeated, flagrant violations is overwhelming, and it has happened right under your jurisdiction.
The former news anchor for News 8 became the communication director for DPOR and continues her career in the Commonwealth in a similar role. After filming our story, News 8 abandoned the feature and the scores of victims who were hoping to finally find an advocate. I’m sure it’s just coincidence. As you know, class action suits are prohibited in the Commonwealth.
On behalf of the displaced families, the defrauded homeowners, and the taxpayers of Chesterfield County, we ask you directly: Will you finally step in, review this evidence, and do something?
Sincerely,
Andrea Driffill
Director of Virginia Consumer Inc.
