A Festus woman is suing the Jefferson County Habitat for Humanity chapter and others over a house south of Festus that she claims the nonprofit group built for her but later sold to another person.
According to Teresa Armstrong’s lawsuit filed in Jefferson County Circuit Court, the house is located in the 2900 block of Cole Drive on the same land where she previously lived in a house that burned down in 2014.
In addition to the local Habitat for Humanity, the other defendants in the case include Bank of Bloomsdale and Lana Faye Farrell, the property’s current owner, according to Jefferson County Assessors Office documents.
According to the documents, Farrell has owned the Cole Drive property since 2024. Previously, it was held by Habitat for Humanity of Jefferson County from 2020 to 2023, by Armstrong alone from 2010 to 2019, and by Teresa and Kenneth Armstrong Jr. between 2006 and 2009. The online records do not go back beyond 2006.
Armstrong’s attorney, David Duree, has no comment on the case, according to someone from his office.
Armstrong is suing the local Habitat for Humanity branch, requesting that they deed the new house and property to her and reimburse her for items she had purchased for the new house. She also seeks compensation for other damages and attorney fees.
The Leader learned about the lawsuit after publishing a March 6 piece about Habitat for Humanity of Jefferson County, in which the chapter’s chairman, Dean Eshelman, stated that the group had been inactive since 2019 and was preparing to launch a new house-building project.
After the story was published, numerous of Armstrong’s friends and acquaintances contacted the Leader, claiming they had participated in the Habitat for Humanity project to build a house on Cole Drive that they assumed would be given to Armstrong. They stated that the house-building project began in 2021 and would continue till 2023.
“I had participated in the building project,” stated Arnold resident Mandie Swart. “I gave the time I had.” I was there to assist my friend, Teresa.”
Tom Cisco of Festus stated that he, too, had worked on the project.
Swart and Cisco both stated that they contributed their time and work to the house-building project because they expected the house to be turned over to Armstrong once completed and that they were furious and disappointed when the house was sold to someone else.
After the leader heard about the Habitat for Humanity house being built between 2021 and 2023, a reporter called Eshelman again to inquire about it, and Eshelman refused to admit the existence of the house and did not return further phone calls seeking comment. In addition, Habitat for Humanity of Jefferson County board members David Courtway and Terry Kreitler, as well as the chapter’s president of operations, David Crump, did not return voicemail messages seeking comment.
Attorney Derrick Good stated on March 17 that he is defending the organization in the complaint but was unable to comment on “ongoing litigation.”
Lawsuit details
The lawsuit alleges that the “plaintiff demands a trial by jury on all counts, issues, and claims.”
Furthermore, it states, “After reconstruction, neither Habitat-MO nor Habitat-Missouri allowed Teresa to reoccupy her home.”
According to the lawsuit, Armstrong owns the land, and in 2014, the home burned down, leaving behind a concrete basement, an attached two-car garage, and a shed. Habitat for Humanity eventually razed the shed.
It further claims that in October 2019, Armstrong submitted a pre-application to Habitat for Humanity for housing aid, and on January 27, 2020, Armstrong signed a cooperation agreement with the organization to have a new house built on the property she would purchase. As part of the deal, Armstrong deeded the property to Habitat for Humanity and was obligated to provide “sweat equity” on the building project by engaging in the rebuilding and giving “friends, family, and relatives” to help with the construction. The agreement stipulates that Habitat will transfer the property to Armstrong once they have paid off the financing.
Habitat for Humanity canceled its collaboration arrangement with Armstrong on October 19, 2023. According to the termination letter, Habitat for Humanity stated that the underwriter for the loan required to build the house, Bloomsdale Bank, informed the organization that Armstrong’s financial situation had changed since the time of her initial application, and she was no longer eligible for a Habitat house based on her debt-to-income ratio.
Armstrong’s complaint contests the assertion that her change in financial circumstances prevented her from repaying Habitat for Humanity for the loan to build the house.
According to the lawsuit, she had three jobs when she applied for Habitat for Humanity housing help, but she later lost two of them and was wounded on her last work, resulting in disability. However, the suit claims she could still have met her financial commitments to pay off her mortgage debt because she began receiving Social Security disability payments.
No. She doesn’t “owe any credit card debt, or any other debt, and her financial ability to repay the loan is better now than it was when she signed the partnership agreement,” according to the court papers.
Armstrong claims in the case that she fulfilled the “sweat equity” required of Habitat for Humanity recipients, as well as providing $5,230.86 in building materials.
On September 22, 2022, Armstrong received an email from a Habitat for Humanity member stating that building on the new house will be completed within two months, but the construction was not completed until October 2023, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit includes a Habitat for Humanity letter to Armstrong dated Nov. 2, 2023, which says, “As we stated to you in our previous letter, we would be happy to offer you the agreed-upon value for the property, as well as reimburse you for charges on your personal credit card for the appliances installed in the home.”
Habitat listed the Cole Drive property for $230,000, according to Armstrong’s court records.
Armstrong’s lawsuit seeks $84,000 in damages for materials purchased, rent paid, sweat equity value, and loss of use of her home and land, as well as $50,000 in attorney’s fees; $11,675 for personal property left in the two-car garage “converted” by Habitat for Humanity, plus any court costs.
She is also requesting that Bloomsdale Bank pay more than $230,000, plus court costs, claiming that the bank falsely and intentionally informed Habitat that Armstrong’s debt-to-income ratio required Habitat to de-select her as the reconstructed home recipient, causing Habitat to terminate the partnership agreement with Armstrong and attempt to transfer ownership of the property to Farrell, according to the suit.
In addition, she seeks more than $230,000 from Farrell, plus court fees.
She also requests the court to find that she owns the Cole Drive property.
Bloomsdale Bank’s attorney, Mark Bishop, has given the following comment regarding the lawsuit:
“The only statement that I will make with regard to this case is that allegations against Bloomsdale Bank have no merit, and we expect to prevail with regard to those claims in this litigation.”