ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – Customers of a Jacksonville homebuilder accused of abandoning projects in a Nocatee neighborhood are taking their grievances to court.
Nine homeowners are suing the owner of the Pineapple Corporation, Spencer Calvert, personally for the money they allege was misappropriated.
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The cases could now go to trial after a St. Johns County judge denied Calvert’s requests for the lawsuits against him to be handled in arbitration.
The judge heard arguments last month concerning Calvert’s motion for arbitration. It’s typically standard for construction contracts to have arbitration clauses in them, protecting contractors from going to court.
In his denial, Judge Kenneth Janesk wrote: “On the surface this case would appear to be a simple and routine contract dispute between a builder and homeowner; a builder’s contract which (as per usual) contains an arbitration clause. At this early juncture, however, the Court must determine if that is in fact what is before the Court or it is something different. It is this difference which could divert this case away from arbitration and into the normal stream of litigation.”
Calvert was subpoenaed to appear at the March 11 hearing but never showed. This is because of a disagreement between parties over whether or not it was an evidentiary hearing. Ultimately, the judge ruled that the hearing would be limited to a legal argument meaning that Calvert would not be held in contempt of court for not attending.
This ruling is the first of many to come. More hearings are upcoming in other cases where Calvert’s lawyer again requests the cases be resolved in arbitration.
Those hearings are scheduled for April 8 and 11.
Attorneys for the homeowners allegedly ripped off by Calvert have now subpoenaed his bank for his personal bank statements and Pineapple Corporation’s bank statements dating back to November 2020.