Growing List of Lawsuits Against RI's High Profile “Dream Team” Couple

Growing List of Lawsuits Against RI's High Profile “Dream Team” Couple

 

This week, the Rhode Island State Police charged Ann-Marie Goddard with multiple fraud-related charges tied to her and her husband Christopher’s construction company.

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But the couple who owns a series of high-profile construction and design firms are accused by more than a half dozen families and companies of taking the hundreds of thousands of dollars and failing to do the construction work promised — the damages may exceed a million dollars.

The Goddards played up their experience and expertise, but according to a growing list of lawsuits, they took multiple families' money and never delivered on construction services to build promised dream homes or complete the design and construction projects.

 

Marketing Led the Way

In promotional magazine ads and on TV spots, the Goddards claimed to be the “dream team” — she knew design, and he knew construction.

Now, however, there is a growing list of families and businesses that claim the two took tens of thousands of dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars and didn’t do the work. In a “leading ladies” sponsored content ad published in 2023, the Goddards claimed:

DREAM TEAM

Together with husband and architectural expert Christopher, Ann-Marie Goddard is the design-minded half of the power couple running EXODUS DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION. The two of them each contribute different industry knowledge, backgrounds, and regional appeal from either end of the state – as Ann-Marie grew up in Wickford, and Christopher hails from Pawtucket – to their roles as passionate project managers turning houses into homes.

In the sponsored content ad it was written: "Seeing the trend of many clients building second houses in other states, Exodus is expanding into vacation homes – and following their clients wherever they may plant roots. “I’m working on becoming a private pilot at Airventures flying school in Smithfield,” shares Ann-Marie. “The plan is to purchase an airplane to travel from state to state while maintaining our base in RI. We can meet clients where they are and have fun flying while we do it!”

While they were pushing the ads, they were allegedly taking clients' money and not doing the work.

 

 

Enforcement Action by DBR and More Than a Dozen Civil Lawsuits

The Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation (DBR) issued an emergency order last month against the Goddards, citing that the couple “are acting to the detriment of the health, welfare and safety of the general public and would continue to so threaten the public if Respondent Christopher Goddard were to remain registered and any of the Respondents were to continue undertaking or offering to undertake work or provide services as a contractor in the State of Rhode Island.”

 

Seven Lawsuits Since July

According to the DBR, "During the five-month period beginning July 11, 2023, through December 20, 2023, Respondents and/or Respondents’ business entities have been sued in seven (7) separate civil actions filed in Rhode Island Superior Courts involving numerous breaches of construction related contracts and Respondents’ failure to apply funds they received from consumer property owners to pay for materials and/or labor provided by building materials suppliers and/or subcontractors, which has resulted in mechanic’s liens being filed and enforcement sought against Respondents and also against the consumers and the consumers’ properties."

In one case, "Homeowners David and Lisa Ferrucci had to pay an additional $38,882.96 to BFS in order to stop the mechanic’s lien action against their home" -- the couple claims they had already paid one of the Goddards' companies for the work on their condo.

In another case, Matthew and Kara Robenhymer, owners of property in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, filed a complaint in August against Exodus Construction, LLC, Exodus Design Group LLC, Ann-Marie Goddard, and Christopher Goddard, "asserting numerous claims, including breach of contract, negligence, conversion of funds, and unjust enrichment with respect to a residential construction project at their property." The Robenhymers say they were taken for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The case that led to Ann-Marie Goddard's arrest involving allegations that the Goddards promised to build a nearly $1 million home and never did any work.

According to DBR documents, on or about October 18, 2023, the Board received a complaint from property owners Adam and Rebecca Graves alleging that in October 2022, "Respondents agreed to perform and arranged to perform contractor services to design and build a new residential home at the Graves’ property in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, for the total cost of $988,958.00 (inclusive of design costs)."

But as the Rhode Island State Police assert, the work was never done.  

In their civil complaint, the Graves state that Goddards have failed to refund any portion of the $101,075.00 deposit paid.

 

Another Family Allegedly Stiffed

"On or about December 12, 2023, the Board received [a complaint] from property owners Dave and Maggie Stukus, stating that on or about May 29, 2023, they entered into a contract with Respondents entitled “Design-Build Contract Agreement Between Owner and Contractor” and Respondents thereby agreed to perform and arranged to perform contractor services to design and build a new residential home at complainant’s property in West Greenwich, Rhode Island, for the total cost of $840,187 (inclusive of design costs)," according to the DBR.

"According to the Stukus Complaint, to date Respondents have failed to perform any of the work that was agreed to in the contract to design and construct a new residential home at complainant’s property in West Greenwich, and Respondent has withheld the complainant’s deposit," writes the DBR.

The DBR's next action: "All Respondents, including Christopher Goddard and Ann-Marie Goddard, shall appear before a Hearing Officer of the Department for an administrative hearing on January 18, 2024, at 11:00 AM."

But the civil cases against the Goddards and their associated companies are expected to take years to resolve, and one attorney who represents one of the complainants worries there are few assets for his and the other families to recover.