Image Builders lawsuit ends

July 17--Hopes settle with company, owners

The Utica couple who sued Owensboro home building company Image Builders has settled their suit in Daviess Circuit Court.

Joshua and Amanda Hope sued the home building company and Image Builders' founders Randall Hayden and Jim Estes in 2012.

A motion to dismiss the case was signed Monday by Circuit Court Jay Wethington, with the motion saying a settlement had been reached in the dispute.

Attorneys reached Wednesday said they could not comment on the details of the settlement.

Documents filed in the Hopes' claim say the family paid Image Builders$401,852 to build their Utica home.

The suit says the Hopes "believe that only $231,388 was actually paid by Image Builders for materials and labor used" for the home.

The suit said the Hope family had to pay subcontractors themselves on top of money they'd already paid Image Builders to build the house and a barn; in the complaint filed against the company, the Hopes said they expected to pay an additional $420,000 to complete the house.

"Image Builders breached the contract and its agreement ... by its failure to pay the new home subcontractors and vendors," the complaint says.

The Hopes have made direct payments to some subcontractors and have paid to have mechanics liens filed against the home by subcontractors released, court documents say.

Other lawsuits filed by some Image Builders homeowners are still pending in Circuit Court. In turn, Estes and Hayden filed a lawsuit against their former accountant, Jeffrey S. Merimee.

In court documents, Hayden and Estes alledge Merimee tried to create friction between them in a "scheme to charge clients for unnecessary professional services, under the false pretense of attempting to mediate a resolution of the conflict initiated by Merimee ..."

Merimee was sentenced to four years in federal prison in late June after pleading guilty to a charge of obtaining a loan for a local business using a fake audit and a forged signature from an accountant.

Merimee has charges of failure to pay taxes pending in Florida, and charges of fraudulent insurance acts over $500 and second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument pending in Daviess Circuit Court.

The agreed order in the Hope case says, "a total compromise settlement agreement has been reached as to all remaining matters in controversy" between the Hopes, Image Builders and Hayden and Estes.

The agreed order says the case is settled "subject to the Defendants' fulfillment of their respective obligations as set forth in the Settlement Agreement executed by the parties ..."

Frank Brancato, the attorney representing the Hopes, said Wednesday he could not discuss the details of the settlement agreement.

"We've entered into a settlement agreement that my client finds satisfactory," Brancato said.

Brancato said the case is dismissed without prejudice for now, which means the Hopes could refile the suit. Once Image Builders, Hayden and Estes fulfill the terms of the settlement agreement, the case will be dismissed with prejudice, meaning it can't be refiled, Brancato said.

"Image Builders has a ... obligation to my client," Brancato said. "When they fulfill those obligations, we'll amend that motion to be dismissed" with prejudice, he said.

Chris Compton, the attorney representing Image Builders, said he could not comment on the settlement.

<p>Steve Dowell, Randall Hayden's attorney, said Image Builders' attorneys are "defending vigorously and intend to defend vigorously until the bitter end" the other lawsuits filed against the company, but Hayden wanted to reach a settlement in the Hope case.

"He's very pleased that he and Jim and Mr. and Mrs. Hope were able to come together and settle their differences," Dowell said. "It has been Randy's hope that this case be resolved, because it was a case that needed to be resolved.

"In this case, we're lucky that everyone was willing to work toward a common goal," Dowell said.

Evan Taylor, attorney for Jim Estes, also said he could not discuss the terms of the settlement.

A settlement is "not an admission of fault or liability," Taylor said. A settlement is "an agreement to resolve the bilateral risks and expenses that both sides in a legal dispute have," Taylor said.

Dowell said Hayden "is not admitting to liability, nor is Image Builders, for that matter."

"I think Jim is glad to have had the opportunity to resolve (the lawsuit) with Joshua Hope," Taylor said. The negotiation process was "not easy," he said.

The settlement was negotiated "in a way that every in this situation is satisfied," Taylor said. "It's (an) agreement that serves everyone's interests."

James Mayse, 691-7303, [email protected]

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