A Springdale couple is suing the buyers, the real estate agent and the bank involved in the sale of their chicken farm, saying they were “hoodwinked” in the convoluted process.
James and Gerald Dean Pentz, through attorney Harry McDermott of Fayetteville, filed suit Aug. 3 in Washington County Circuit Court alleging breaches of contract after the sale of a 40-acre farm in Summers for slightly less than $1.2 million in January. The Pentzes sued Michael and Barbara Kildow and real estate agent Dan Schwieder of Twin Oaks Realty Inc. of Summers.
The Pentzes also sued Stone Bank of Mountain View for alleged interference with the Pentzes’ contract with the Kildows. The Pentzes said they have sustained financial damages of nearly $1.5 million, which they ask the court to award them from Stone Bank and Schwieder, in addition to punitive damages.
The couple is also asking the court to award them the amount of the loans the couple made to the buyers.
At issue is the property on state Highway 59, which the Pentzes listed with Schwieder in June 2017 for approximately $1.4 million. The Pentzes acquired the property for $390,000 from Simmons Bank in 2010.
The Pentzes said they agreed to sell to the Kildows for $1.25 million in August and would lend money for closing costs. The suit said after the bank told him a start-up loan would have to be included, Schwieder combined the two costs into one $89,000 fee, which he called “closing costs.”
To get USDA Farm Service Agency loan guarantees for the Stone Bank financing, the farm’s purchase price could be no more than $1,175,000. The Pentzes said Stone Bank and Schwieder arranged for the sale price to be lowered to that amount with the difference made up by a $75,000 loan from the Pentzes to the Kildows, which the suit said the FSA wasn’t informed of.
The Kildows also took an additional $50,000 loan from the Pentzes for farm equipment and paid $10,600 for farm supplies. The Pentzes said the check for the supplies was declined by Stone Bank.
The Pentzes are alleging the Kildows breached their contracts by failing to keep up with payments on the $89,000, $75,000 and $50,000 loans and failing to make good on the bounced check.
The suit said at a meeting between the Pentzes, Stone Bank officials and Schwieder, Schwieder promised to buy the Kildows’ loans from the Pentzes, but later reneged after getting legal advice. The Pentzes say he breached his fiduciary duty and that they would never have sold the farm to the Kildows if not for Schwieder’s misrepresentations.
The defendants have not responded to the lawsuit, and no attorneys for the defendants are named in the record. Schweider could not be reached for comment.
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