Cy-Fair apartments sued over earnest money

by Andrea Dearden | December 21, 2010 10:17 am

A company is taking a dispute over the purchase of a Cy-Fair apartment complex to court.

VR General Partners LLC filed a lawsuit against Limestone Ranchoverde LP on Dec. 17 in Harris County District Court. VR says Limestone has violated the terms of a purchase agreement by failing to return earnest money on a canceled sale.

According to the complaint, VR and Limestone entered into a written contract in July. VR agreed to buy the Limestone Ranch at the Crossroads Apartments if certain conditions were met. VR says the defendant agreed, among other things, to maintain the property and to keep the apartments “adequately rented.”

If VR was unable to secure the lender’s consent before Nov. 19 or if Limestone failed to keep the property adequately rented and maintained, the contract allowed for VR to terminate the buy agreement and have its earnest money returned.

VR says the lender denied its application for funding of the purchase. The company says it sent a letter to Limestone on Nov. 17 informing them of the developments and demanding the earnest money be returned. The company says it sent a second letter on Dec. 3 that also noted Limestone’s alleged failure to maintain the Limestone Ranch at the Crossroads Apartments and again demanded payment.

Limestone has allegedly breached the original purchase agreement by failing to honor VR’s request to terminate the contract and return the company’s earnest money.

VR is asking to be awarded damages, court costs and attorney fees.

Attorneys Jason L. Sanders and Jonathan E. Collins of Locke Lord & Bissell of Dallas are representing VR General Partners LP.

Harris County District Court Case No. 2010-82089.

This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed at the Harris County Courthouse. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note, a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt, and it only represents one side of the story.