Mardon v. Ferris

Plaintiffs signed a written agreement to build a house for defendant’s daughter and son-in-law, who signed as the other parties to the agreement, for $12,500. Plaintiffs claim that the written agreement was a sham, never intended by the parties to be of binding force; that it was preceded by an oral agreement between plaintiffs and defendant under which plaintiffs agreed to build the house and defendant agreed to pay for it on a cost-plus basis; that thereafter defendant persuaded plaintiffs to sign the written agreement with the understanding that it was not to be binding or to mean anything…