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MORGANTOWN – A retiring Monongalia Circuit Court judge and his wife are suing a California man who they reneged on a real estate contract.
Phillip and Carol Gaujot filed their complaint December 6 in Monongalia Circuit Court against Simon K. Hodson of Santa Barbara, California. Phillip Gaujot is chief judge of the circuit and is retiring at the end of the year.
Phillip D. Gaujot
| courtswv.gov
According to the complaint, Hodson agreed to purchase the Gaujot’s property on July 28. The Gaujots signed the Real Estate Purchase Agreement the following day, and it set the closing date for the Lakeview Manor Drive home on or before October 14. Sometime before that scheduled closing date, they say Hodson asked for an extension.
“The excuse the defendant used in requesting the extension was that if he could delay the closing until November, it would save him$1,000,000 in taxes,” the complaint states. “The plaintiffs agreed to extend the closing date from October 14, 2022, to November 10, 2022.”
As part of that agreement, Hodson agreed to “waive any remaining contengencies in the Real Estate Purchase Agreement, written on July 20, 2022.”
But, the Gaujots say Hodson failed to show up for closing and failed to communicate to the plaintiffs or to the respective real estate agents why he was absent or give any explanation for why the real estate transaction could not close as required by contract.
“In short, the defendant simply broke his promise with no explanation and failed to close on said property,” the complaint states.
On November 16, the plaintiffs had a conference call with Hodson, who blamed “his team in Hong Kong” for not properly wiring the money to close on the property. He promised to have the money wired to the closing agent in the next “day or two,” but he failed to do that as well, according to the complaint.
The Gaujots say they have suffered financial and emotional harm. They say they vacated the home in anticipation of the promised closing, so the property is now vacant and more difficult to sell with possibly a negative impact on the sales price. Also, the couple says they moved into a condominium they own and say it could be generating rental income otherwise. They also say they liquidated stock to satisfy obligations they made in anticipation of the closing.
Phillip Gaujot also says he would not have retired as circuit judge effective at the end of the year if he had known the sale wouldn’t be finalized. So, he says he has lost the income difference between his judicial salary and the amount he will be paid in retirement.
The couple also say they have suffered annoyance, inconvenience and emotional distress.
The Gaujots seek compensatory damages for lost income, lost rental income, moving expenses, diminution in value of their Lakeview Manor Drive home, the potential difference in the amount Hodson agreed to pay and the ultimate sale price as well as for annoyance, inconvenience and emotional distress. They also seek pre- and post-judgment interests, attorney fees, court costs and other relief.
They are being represented by Dino Colombo and Kala Sowers of Colombo Law in Morgantown.
Monongalia Circuit Court case number 22-C-290