WEST VIRGINIA RECORD

CHARLES TOWN - A Virginia couple says their deposit on a subdivision lot was kept even though they did not end up buying the lot.

Thomas and Lesbia Gonzalez, of Woodbridge, Va., filed a lawsuit May 19 in Jefferson Circuit Court alleging that Arcadia Building Co. of Purcellville, Va., owes them nearly $19,000.

The couple filed the lawsuit themselves and state they entered into a purchase agreement on Oct. 3, 2005, to receive Lot 7, Section 1 in Harvest Hills Subdivision, located in Shenandoah Junction.

They say they gave Arcadia $16,000 for an earnest money deposit before applying for a loan to purchase the rest of the lot.

However, the Gonzalezes say they were denied five separate times and sought to recover their deposit from sales manager Terri Trunnell.

"After Mrs. Trunnell was notified of the fifth denial for financing, she said that she would check with her boss to see if the defendant would refund the earnest money deposit to the plaintiffs," the complaint says.

"On May 15, 2006, Mrs. Trunnell notified Ms. (Ruth) Maria (the Gonzalez' translator) via e-mail that her boss had informed her that the plaintiffs' earnest money deposit would not be refunded."

The Gonzalezes seek to recover the $16,000 deposit, $2,000 for consulting fees, paperwork preparation and translation fees and $900 for three days of missed work.

Jefferson Circuit Court case number 06-C-181