Elena Biles v. Thomas Agler Jr. d/b/a Agler Construction
What's This Case About?
Let’s be real: how do you take fifty-five thousand dollars from someone to build a house… and then just ghost them like you’re in a bad rom-com? That’s exactly what Elena Biles says Thomas Agler Jr., aka Agler Construction (which appears to be one guy with a truck and a dream), allegedly did. No house. No updates. No refund. Just radio silence and a whole lot of receipts for work that never happened. Welcome to Seminole County, Oklahoma, where the drama isn’t about who stole whose lawnmower — it’s about who stole whose dream home.
Elena Biles is a regular homeowner trying to build something permanent in a world where everything feels temporary. Thomas Agler Jr. is a contractor — or at least, he calls himself one — operating under the bold and legally flimsy business name of Agler Construction, which, based on the address listed (and the typo-riddled paperwork), might just be his PO box and a flip phone. The two entered into what was supposed to be a straightforward agreement: Agler would build Biles an 824-square-foot home for $91,000. Sounds modest, sounds doable, sounds like the American dream on a budget. But somewhere between the handshake and the drywall, things went full Shark Tank pitch gone wrong — only instead of investors walking out, it was the builder walking off… with the money.
According to the petition filed on August 24, 2024, Biles started paying up front — and we mean way up front. On August 27, she handed over $30,000. A month later? Another $15,500. Then $6,600. Then $3,347. That’s $55,447 — nearly two-thirds of the total contract price — paid before a single wall was framed, according to the allegations. The contract supposedly required these payments to be held in trust, meaning Agler wasn’t supposed to treat this like a personal slush fund for truck payments or weekend getaways. He was supposed to use it for materials, labor, permits — you know, building the house. But instead, Biles claims, Agler vanished. No progress. No communication. No construction. Just a growing stack of unpaid invoices and a woman staring at an empty lot where her future was supposed to be.
Now, let’s talk about the paperwork — because oh honey, the paperwork. The “contract” attached to the petition looks less like a legal document and more like something typed during a caffeine crash at a Waffle House. It references a “surveying unit” (which is not a house), lists a Florida address for the defendant (but the case is in Oklahoma — did he forget to update his letterhead?), and includes bizarre line items like “Sofa Chisel made of Concrete & Drill” and “Texas Hedal # K-782760” — which sounds like a rejected WWE wrestler name, not a plumbing fixture. There’s also a line that says “ALL Damages will BE proven Big ‘Home’ Checks” — which, sure, okay, but what does that even mean? Is that a threat? A typo? A cryptic prophecy? And somehow, buried in the chaos, is a claim that all work was “completed in a substantial workmanlike manner” — except, again, no work was done. It’s like getting a receipt that says “Thanks for the $30,000 — your spaceship will arrive Tuesday!” and then checking the tracking number and realizing the company doesn’t exist.
So why are they in court? Because Biles isn’t just mad — she’s legally mobilized. Her lawyer, Jack Mattingly Sr. (yes, Sr., like a judge from a 1970s cop show), has thrown the entire civil litigation playbook at Agler. First up: breach of contract — he took the money, didn’t build the house, game over. Then disgorgement — a fancy legal word that means “give the damn money back.” Then breach of trust, because Agler was supposed to hold those funds like a responsible adult, not a guy blowing cash on air fresheners shaped like dice. Then fraud, which is the nuclear option — basically saying, “You lied to me on purpose, and I want the court to know you’re a con artist.” And finally, unjust enrichment — a.k.a. “You can’t keep getting richer while I get poorer for nothing.”
Biles is asking for $55,147 — that’s the amount she paid, minus a small credit — plus $10,000 in punitive damages (because she wants Agler to feel it), and attorney’s fees. Is $55k a lot? For a 824-square-foot home? Honestly, it’s not outrageous — tiny homes in decent markets can go for that much. But the issue isn’t the price tag — it’s that she got zero square feet for her fifty-five large. That’s like paying for a year of Netflix and getting one episode of Parks and Rec — and even then, it was just the part where Jerry drops his sandwich.
Now, here’s our take: the most absurd part isn’t even the missing house. It’s the audacity of the invoice. The sheer gall of sending a document that says “work was completed in a substantial workmanlike manner” when the only thing built was the lie itself. It’s like a chef handing you a bill that says “Gourmet meal served” while the stove is still cold. And let’s not ignore the red flags: payments demanded before any work, a contractor who can’t spell his own name consistently (“Thomas E Aglee”?), and a business address in Florida for an Oklahoma case. This isn’t just negligence — it’s a masterclass in how not to run a construction business.
Are we rooting for Elena Biles? Absolutely. She’s not asking for a mansion. She’s not even asking for a refund with interest. She’s asking for basic decency — for someone to show up, do the job, or give the money back. In a world where trust is the rarest building material, she deserved better than a contractor who treated her life savings like a participation trophy. And Thomas Agler Jr.? Well, let’s just hope his next business venture doesn’t involve bail bonds — because if this case goes sideways, he might need one.
Remember folks: always get a contract. And if that contract mentions “Texas Hedal” and “Big Home Checks,” maybe — just maybe — run, don’t walk, to the nearest lawyer. We’re entertainers, not lawyers, but even we know that’s not how you build a house. That’s how you build a lawsuit.
Case Overview
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Elena Biles
individual
Rep: The Mattingly Law Firm, PLLC
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Thomas Agler Jr. d/b/a Agler Construction
business
Rep: AGLER CONSTRUCTION
| # | Cause of Action | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Breach of Contract | Plaintiff alleges Defendant breached contract by not completing work on home and keeping payments made by Plaintiff. |
| 2 | Disgorgement | Plaintiff seeks return of payments made to Defendant for work not completed. |
| 3 | Breach of Trust | Plaintiff alleges Defendant breached trust by converting payments for work not completed. |
| 4 | Fraud | Plaintiff alleges Defendant's actions were fraudulent and damaged Plaintiff. |
| 5 | Unjust Enrichment | Plaintiff seeks return of payments made to Defendant for work not completed. |