Fayetteville neighbors Ben Burris and Matt Wait have dropped their lawsuits against each other.
You’ll recall that Burris, who owns the Arkansas Dentistry & Braces chain in Arkansas, filed a $10,000 lawsuit against Wait in Washington County District Court alleging negligence. Wait, a former punter for the University of Arkansas Razorbacks, promptly filed a counterclaim against Burris.
Wait said the two sides agreed to drop their lawsuits against the other in January. Burris agreed to spend up to $7,500 to fix damage to his own property, while Wait agreed to allow Burris to access his property to make any necessary repairs.
Burris and Wait are neighbors on Jean Lane, in a posh neighborhood next to John Tyson’s Blessings Golf Club. They won’t be neighbors for long as Burris has put his 4,600-SF home up for sale with a list price of $1.1 million.
Burris bought the home, which was built in 2009, from Devin and Sheila Cole for $900,000 in October 2014. That was a few months after Burris had filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Little Rock against the Arkansas Board of Dental Examiners to challenge the Arkansas Dental Practice Act.
Burris, who was at the time a licensed dentist and orthodontist, was prohibited by the act from providing a teeth-cleaning service. Burris dropped this lawsuit 18 months later and relinquished his orthodontist license, which allowed him to offer dental services while keeping the orthodontics services.
Burris and Wait’s dispute began shortly after Wait paid $115,000 for the 1-acre property next to Burris’ home and began preparation to build a home on the site in 2015. Burris claimed in his lawsuit that Wait dug up his own yard — “negligently and unreasonably altered his property” — causing damage to Burris’ property.
Burris claimed that Wait’s digging forced pipes to be relocated, created a sizable drop-off from Burris’ driveway and caused a drainage problem.
Wait, in his counterclaim, said he never did any work on Burris’ property and the work was all approved by the subdivision’s property owners association. Wait sells medical devices for St. Jude Medical but is a part-time homebuilder, having built 14 homes, including the one on Jean Lane.