McBride Homes Lawsuit: Builder’s Bloc, Liens & O’Fallon

The McBride Homes lawsuit that St. Louis-area homeowners are asking about is actually a pair of lawsuits between McBride Homes and its former concrete subcontractor, Builder’s Bloc. After McBride fired Builder’s Bloc in February 2025, the subcontractor filed roughly 400 mechanics’ liens against McBride properties across the St. Louis metro, McBride sued for breach of contract, Builder’s Bloc countersued alleging fraud and more than $10 million in unpaid work, and McBride paid $10 million in June 2025 to clear the liens off homeowners’ titles while the litigation continues.

How the Builder’s Bloc Fight Started

Builder’s Bloc used to be a division of McBride & Son Enterprises. McBride sold it to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan in 2015, and the two companies kept working together for about a decade after the split, with Builder’s Bloc handling concrete and construction services for McBride’s residential developments.¹²

That ended in February 2025. On April 11, 2025, McBride sued Builder’s Bloc in St. Louis County, alleging breach of contract and claiming $13 million in losses from missed construction schedules. A week later, McBride amended the suit to seek a temporary restraining order that would block Builder’s Bloc from filing any more mechanics’ liens on McBride properties.¹³

Neither request went McBride’s way. On May 29, 2025, an arbitrator ruled that McBride’s breach-of-contract claims would go to arbitration rather than proceed in court. On June 5, Judge Richard Stewart denied the restraining order, ruling that Builder’s Bloc could keep filing liens and that each lien’s validity would be tested individually.¹

Builder’s Bloc’s Fraud Countersuit

Builder’s Bloc filed its own lawsuit on May 15, 2025, in Jefferson County Circuit Court. It alleged McBride owed more than $10 million for labor and materials, and it accused the builder of a “fraud of massive proportions.”¹

The fraud theory turns on Missouri’s mechanics’ lien law. A subcontractor has to file its lien at least five days before the closing date listed on the property’s notice of intended sale.⁴ Builder’s Bloc alleged that McBride filed notices in Jefferson, St. Charles, and Franklin counties with unrealistic or false closing dates, and in some cases filed notices for properties McBride did not yet own or have a buyer for. The result, according to the suit, was to squeeze or eliminate the window Builder’s Bloc had to assert its lien rights.¹

The 400 Liens and the $10 Million Payment

Builder’s Bloc filed roughly 400 mechanics’ liens on McBride homes across the region, with more than 100 in Jefferson County alone. Affected subdivisions included Polo Grounds (32 homes), Greens at Fox Run (10 homes), and Windswept Farms (11 homes) near Eureka; Valley at Winding Bluffs (21 homes) in Fenton; Bear Ridge (21 homes) in House Springs; and The Timbers (21 homes) in Imperial.³

On June 18, 2025, McBride announced it had paid $10 million to satisfy the liens. The company said it wanted to remove homeowners from the middle of the fight. McBride also said the payment was “not a settlement” and that it believed it had overpaid by about $1 million, and it said it would keep pursuing its case against Builder’s Bloc.³

If You Own or Are Buying a McBride Home

A mechanics’ lien attaches to the property’s title, and under Missouri law a lien can be placed even when the work was performed under a contract with a contractor or subcontractor rather than with the homeowner directly.⁴ That means a homeowner who had nothing to do with the payment dispute can still see a lien on their title, and that lien can delay a closing or complicate a refinance.⁵

Some buyers who had already closed found liens attached to their titles after the fact. Others who were under contract faced uncertainty about whether their deals could go through. McBride’s $10 million payment was aimed at clearing the liens for those homeowners, though the underlying lawsuits are still open. If you want to check the status of proceedings tied to your property, Missouri’s Case.Net system lets you search court filings by name or case number.⁵

Where the Cases Stand

Both lawsuits are still active. Builder’s Bloc’s fraud and nonpayment case was set for a hearing before Jefferson County Circuit Judge Joseph Rathert, and McBride’s breach-of-contract case had a preliminary hearing before Judge Stewart in St. Louis County. McBride’s contract claims are also moving forward in arbitration under the May 2025 ruling.³¹ No settlement has been reached, and no court has ruled on the validity of the individual liens as of 2026.

Other McBride Legal Matters You May Have Seen

Arbitration Clauses: Vincent v. Schneider

McBride buyers who look into the company’s litigation history will run across a 2006 Missouri Supreme Court decision, State ex rel. Vincent v. Schneider. Homebuyers had argued that the arbitration clause in their McBride purchase contracts was unconscionable. The court agreed that two provisions were one-sided: one that gave the president of the Home Builders Association of Greater St. Louis (who was also McBride’s president at the time) sole authority to pick the arbitrator, and one that shifted all arbitration costs onto the consumer. The court struck those provisions but upheld the agreement to arbitrate, ordering the trial court to appoint a neutral arbitrator and allocate costs under Missouri’s arbitration statute.⁶ The practical effect is that McBride can still require arbitration of buyer disputes, but not on the terms the court rejected.

Construction Defect Complaints

Separately from the Builder’s Bloc fight, McBride has faced a pattern of consumer complaints over construction quality. Reports compiled from consumer platforms, the Better Business Bureau, and Missouri state agency records describe recurring issues: foundation cracking and settling, water intrusion through basements and windows, premature roofing failure, and HVAC systems that fail within the first few years. Homeowners have said McBride’s warranty department acknowledged defects but did not schedule or complete repairs, or treated problems as cosmetic or within tolerance.⁷

Individual lawsuits have been filed on theories of negligence, breach of contract, and breach of warranty. Complaints have also gone to the Missouri Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division under the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act. As of mid-2026, class action efforts were reported to be in the investigation and organization stage, with attorneys gathering affected homeowners to look at group litigation or class certification.⁷

The O’Fallon Suit Is Over

News searches sometimes surface a 2026 McBride lawsuit against the City of O’Fallon over the rejected Caballo Farms subdivision plan. That case is closed. The O’Fallon City Council reversed its vote and approved the subdivision on May 15, 2026, and McBride dropped the suit.⁸ It has no bearing on existing McBride homeowners or on the Builder’s Bloc dispute.

1
My Leader Paper. McBride, Builders Bloc Legal Battle
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ButcherJoseph. ButcherJoseph Co. Advises McBride and Son in the Sale of Builders Bloc Division to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan
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My Leader Paper. McBride Homes Pays Liens Filed by Builders Bloc
4
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. RSMo Section 429.010
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St. Louis Real Estate News. McBride Homes Just Took a Legal Gut Punch: Heres What It Means for Buyers
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FindLaw. State ex rel. Vincent v. Schneider
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LawFold. McBride Homes Lawsuit
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St. Louis Business Journal. City Flips Vote, Drop Lawsuit