EAST ST. LOUIS - A woman is suing a couple who sold her property and agreed to build her a home in six months, alleging they failed to complete the work on time and misrepresented what the property had to offer.
Terri Griffiths, of Florida, filed a federal lawsuit on Dec. 23 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois against Lorin Eggmeyer and Sandra Eggmeyer, alleging breach of contract, breach of warranty of good workmanship, accounting and property damage.
According to the lawsuit, Griffiths purchased 19.2 acres from Sandra Eggmeyer for a total of $120,000. Griffiths then purchased 1.8 acres of a corner piece of land adjacent to the property for $6,000 per acre.
Griffiths planned to build a home on the property for her sick mother so she would not have to be placed in a nursing home, and the Eggmeyers suggested using Eggmeyer Construction. Sandra Eggmeyer provided a tour of her own home, which she stated had been built within six months. Griffiths agreed for a home to be built under a labor and materials agreement.
However, Griffiths later fired Eggmeyer Construction for allegedly failing to build the home in a timely manner. She claims she later learned that the Eggmeyers had actually lived in a pole barn for at least three years while their house was being built. The construction took a total of years to complete, the suit states.
Because the home took longer to be completed, Griffiths claims her mother had to be placed in a nursing home by other family members "and died a horrific death due to nursing neglect in May 2019." Griffiths eventually had to find other contractors to complete the work Eggmeyer Construction started, which she claims was done poorly.
Griffiths also claims she purchased the property because Sandra Eggmeyer assured her she could install a water system on the 1/4 acre pond to provide water to the home. However, during construction, Eggmeyer Construction allegedly told the plaintiff that the water system could not be installed due to the location of the pond. Griffiths claims she instead paid to have the well dug, which was clear at first. The water later turned cloudy and smelled of rotten eggs after blasting at a quarry caused problems. She claims she was forced to install a costly filtration system, which is only partially effective.
Additionally, Griffiths claims she noticed that a creek located at the back of the property sometimes had low water levels. A neighbor allegedly told her that the Eggmeyer's dammed the creek in order to create a pond on his property before he purchased it. Because the creek feeds into Johnson Creed and the Kinkaid watershed, Griffiths claims damming it is illegal. She contacted the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, but no action has been taken due to COVID-19 closures and delays.
Griffiths seeks damages including pre-judgment interest and costs. Griffith is representing herself pro se.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois case number 3:21-cv-01747-SPM