More than 100 homes in McBride subdivisions in Eureka, Fenton, House Springs and Imperial may be subject to liens while the homebuilding company and its former subcontractor, Builder’s Bloc, continue to battle in court.
On April 18, McBride asked for a temporary restraining order to declare approximately 400 liens on residential properties in the St. Louis area filed by Builder’s Bloc invalid and prevent the construction company from issuing more liens on McBride homes.
Builder’s Bloc is a construction company based in Chesterfield. The two companies have worked together for the past ten years to build homes in the St. Louis area.
However, McBride fired Builder’s Bloc in February, alleging in a lawsuit it filed on April 11 that the subcontractor breached its contract with McBride, failing to complete homes on time and costing the company $13 million in delays.
“On information and belief, Builder’s Bloc chose to prioritize other work over its contractual commitments to McBride … despite numerous meetings, warnings, communications and discussions informing Builder’s Bloc of its consistent failure to meet applicable schedules,” McBride claims.
On April 18, McBride amended its lawsuit asking for the restraining order, and on June 5, Judge Richard Stewart with the St. Louis County Circuit Court declined to issue the order, allowing Builder’s Bloc to continue filing the liens.
Stewart said in his ruling that McBride’s argument for the restraining order did not meet all the court’s requirements, including proving the order would be in the public’s interest or that, without it, McBride would be negatively impacted.
On May 29, an arbitrator ruled that McBride’s lawsuit claiming a breach of contract will proceed to arbitration. Following that arbitrator’s ruling, Judge Stewart said the validity of each lien will be determined by the courts.
Liens
In a lawsuit filed May 15, Builder’s Bloc claimed it filed the liens after McBride “perpetrated a fraud of massive proportions upon the people and businesses of Jefferson County” by filing false notices of intended sale documents with the Recorder of Deeds Office. The company claims McBride’s false notices were also filed in St. Charles and Franklin counties.
A mechanic’s lien, also called a construction lien, is placed on a title to a property to ensure a company that supplied labor or materials to improve a property is reimbursed.
Builder’s Bloc claims the liens were necessary after McBride failed to compensate it for more than $10 million in labor and material costs.
In addition, Builder’s Bloc alleges McBride filed false notices on more than 116 McBride homes in Jefferson County, with 32 homes in the Polo Grounds subdivision, 10 homes in the Greens at Fox Run subdivision and 11 in the Windswept Farms subdivision, all in the Eureka area, along with 21 homes in the Valley at Winding Bluffs subdivision in Fenton, 21 in the Bear Ridge subdivision in House Springs and 21 homes in the Timbers subdivision in Imperial.
Builder’s Bloc alleges in the lawsuit that the McBride’s notices of sales had closing dates that the subcontractor wasn’t aware of or that were not realistic.
According to Missouri statutes, contractors are required to file liens to seek payment no later than five days before the home’s closing date stated on the notice of intended sale. In its suit, Builder’s Bloc alleges that, because of the false closing date on the sale notices, the company missed its opportunity to file liens on properties and, therefore, lost its lien rights and shoulders the cost of building the home.
“McBride knew that the home could not possibly be complete and ready to close by the date stated on the notices of intended sale,” Builder’s Bloc alleges in the lawsuit. “In some instances, McBride did not even own the property, and in other instances, even if they owned the property, they had no bona fide purchaser. McBride intended through these false recordings to deprive or impair the ability of Builder’s Bloc … to protect themselves from non-payment by filing a mechanic’s lien on the properties they improved.”
A court hearing regarding Builder’s Bloc’s lawsuit against McBride has been scheduled for Monday, July 21, at the Jefferson County Courthouse, with Div. 1 Circuit Jefferson County Circuit Judge Joseph Rathert presiding.