ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – New lawsuits have been filed against the man who is accused of ditching several projects in Nocatee and stealing more than $15 million in deposits from customers.
Spencer Calvert, president of the Pineapple Corporation, was arrested last week on multiple charges and he could face more. Nine homeowners are now suing him personally for the money they lost but instead of a jury trial, Calvert is hoping to settle the cases in arbitration.
This is all a part of the process for the homeowners hoping to get their money back.
A look at The Vista at Twenty Mile neighborhood in Nocatee paints a picture of exactly what happened when homeowners contracted with the Pineapple Corporation for their custom home build: some homes were finished and some were never even started.
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“Obviously, our goal is to recover as much of the money that was lost from our homeowners as possible,” said James Gonalez, who is representing those nine homeowners who were left behind.
Calvert’s attorney has filed a motion for these cases to go into arbitration and not to trial, which Gonzales explained is standard.
“So in construction, in a majority of the construction contracts that you enter into, whether it’s a remodel, or a new, a new home, build the contracts, it’s fairly standard for the contract to have an arbitration provision in it, which simply means that if you have a dispute with your builder, or if the builder has a dispute with the homeowner, then rather than it getting handled in court, it gets handled in arbitration,” Gonzales said.
Copies of the contracts show most homeowners signed despite the arbitration clause, but there’s plenty of provisions in the contract Calvert did not honor himself, namely, “that construction would be completed by the end of 2023″
“There’s a hearing to be determined, and what’s going to happen at that hearing, we’ll discuss whether or not it’s proper to have the claims against Spencer Calvert individually handled in arbitration or handled in court,” Gonzales said.
News4JAX spoke to a handful of the homeowners who are taking legal action against Calvert and they said they’re all thankful for the State Attorney’s Office and the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office for taking their claims seriously and putting Calvert in handcuffs.
As of Thursday, no arraignment date has been set for Calvert, who bonded out of jail following his arrest. A hearing is set for March 11 on the motion for arbitration.