Estate of Isringhausen v. Prime Contractors and Associates

              NO. 4-07-0345 Filed 1/29/08
IN THE APPELLATE COURT
OF ILLINOIS
FOURTH DISTRICT
THE ESTATE OF LEE R. ISRINGHAUSEN, by ) Appeal from
SUSAN ISRINGHAUSEN, Executrix, ) Circuit Court of
Plaintiff-Appellant, ) Sangamon County
v. ) No. 06LM1235
PRIME CONTRACTORS AND ASSOCIATES, )
INC., d/b/a APM CUSTOM HOMES, ) Honorable
Defendant-Appellee. ) Roger W. Holmes,
) Judge Presiding.
_________________________________________________________________
JUSTICE COOK delivered the opinion of the court:
Prior to Lee R. Isringhausen's death, he had entered
into a contract with APM Custom Homes (APM), a Florida corpora-tion,
to build a custom home in Marco Island, Florida. Lee
provided APM with a $100,000 deposit. Although APM returned some
of the deposit following Lee's death, APM retained $42,500 for
its construction-management fee. Susan Isringhausen, as the
executrix of Lee's estate, filed a breach-of-contract claim
against APM for the sum of $42,500. The trial court dismissed
Susan's complaint for lack of personal jurisdiction. Susan
appeals. We affirm.
I. BACKGROUND
A. Correspondence Between the Parties
Lee Isringhausen was a resident of Sangamon County,
Illinois. APM is a Florida corporation. According to the
affidavit of APM's president, Todd Schneider, Lee Isringhausen
owned several properties in Marco Island and was interested in
further development. Dan Wilmath had been Isringhausen's long-