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Gary Janzen and his wife, Karen, have been living out of suitcases for 18 months. But they’re not on holiday.

They’ve “couch surfed,” and slept in 15 different beds in that time, Janzen said. As he prepared this week to collect his summer clothes from a Pitt Meadows storage locker, he said: “This is getting a little old.”

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In April 2016, the Janzens signed an agreement to buy a condo in Murrayville House, a 92-unit development in Langley. They expected to move in that July.

The Janzens knew construction might not be completed right on time. But they didn’t expect to wait until this month for clarity on the purchase agreement they signed two years ago.

And when that clarity came, in a B.C. Supreme Court decision this month, it wasn’t good news for the Janzens.

Constructions delays aren’t uncommon in condo developments. But Murrayville House goes far beyond that.

The Janzens are part of the human toll of the development, described this month by a B.C. Supreme Court judge as a “house of cards.” The property is entangled in lawsuits while its developer, Mark Chandler, faces a criminal investigation by the Langley RCMP and tries to fight off an extradition to the U.S. to face charges of orchestrating a real estate investment fraud there.