BELLEVILLE – An O'Fallon couple filed a breach of contract lawsuit against their contractor and the construction companies involved after they allegedly refused to finish building their home for the agreed-upon price.
Plaintiffs Todd and Jacqueline Roach filed a lawsuit in the St. Clair County Circuit Court against defendants Innovation Construction Services, LLC, Brandon McGraw, Designer Homes, LLC, and Imagineering Development Corporation, citing breach of contract in violation of the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act.
According to the lawsuit, the plaintiffs had entered into an agreement with Innovation Construction Services (ICS) to construct a home on their property in O'Fallon. Construction began on September 2021.
The plaintiffs allege that in the summer of 2022, they met with McGraw, the principal of ICS. McGraw allegedly told the plaintiffs that another company with the same name as ICS kept getting sued, so he was changing the name of ICS to Designer Homes LLC for construction projects. The plaintiffs state that McGraw said they were the last contract for ICS and asked if they would agree to terminate the contract. McGraw added that the plaintiffs could save approximately $30,000 by directly engaging with ICS' subcontractors to finish the project.
The plaintiffs allege they believed that McGraw was actually attempting to deceive them to terminate the contract because ICS was underwater on the cost of construction. They allegedly believed construction was going to exceed the agreed upon contract price, which would leave little profit after the project was completed. The plaintiffs refused to terminate the contract and said they wanted ICS to complete the project.
According to the plaintiffs, ICS stopped all construction on their home. They claim that after inquiring with McGraw, he said they had a contract with ICS, which did not have any money to complete the project. The plaintiffs claim they believed McGraw was attempting to coerce them into paying more money to complete the project. ICS then stopped all work on the plaintiff's home and it currently remains partially complete, the suit states.
The plaintiffs allege the defendants have breached their contract by not completing the home on the agreed upon price. They add that the defendants have violated the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act through use of deceptive practices to try to get them to terminate the contract and to coerce them into paying more money than the agreed upon price.
The plaintiffs have taken bids on the cost to complete construction of their house, which suggest that it will cost between $260,000 to $450,000 to finish construction of the home.
The plaintiffs are seeking a court order requiring that the defendants finish construction of the home at the agreed upon price. They're also seeking more than $200,000 in damages, court costs, interest and any other relief the court deems proper. They are represented in this case by attorneys Quinn Murphy and Zachary S. Merkle of Sandberg Phoenix.
St. Clair County Circuit Court case number 22LA1060