BELLEVILLE – A Shiloh woman is suing a fence contractor claiming he allegedly falsely represented himself as a construction company in defrauding her.
Plaintiff Susan Curtis filed a lawsuit in the St. Clair County Circuit Court against defendant Michael Wilson, Jr.
According to the lawsuit, on July 25, 2020, Wilson had persuaded Curtis to sign a contract with Superior Retaining Walls, Excavating & Fencing to build a privacy fence around the plaintiff's yard. The suit also claims that Wilson owned Superior and that the company shut down operations on Oct. 8, 2021.
Curtis says that she paid Superior $6,000 to complete the fence. She claims that Wilson falsely represented that the company had employees, materials and assets to complete the job, but that Wilson knew that the company was an assetless shell and had no intention of constructing the fence.
The plaintiff states that to date, no work has been done on the fence in the more than two years since the contract was signed. She also states that she was forced to resort to building a temporary privacy fence at a cost of more than $1,000 while waiting for Wilson to complete the job.
Curtis is seeking to recover the cost of her initial $6,000 payment plus interest, the cost in excess of $1,000 for her temporary fence, and $10,000 for loss of use of the privacy fence she was entitled to. She also claims that she has incurred more than $20,000 in attorney fees which she is entitled to recover and is suing for punitive damages as well.
Curtis is seeking damages in excess of $50,000, plus court costs and any other relief the court deems proper. She is being represented in this case by attorney David M. Duree of David M. Duree and Associates, P.C. in O'Fallon.
St. Clair County Circuit Court case number 22LA0386