United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit ____________________ Nos. 22-2267 & 22-2188 RANDALL EWING and YASMANY GOMEZ, Plaintiffs-Appellees, Cross-Appellants, v. 1645 W. FARRAGUT LLC, Defendant-Appellant, Cross-Appellee. ____________________

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. No. 1:16-cv-9930 — Sharon Johnson Coleman, Judge. ____________________

ARGUED SEPTEMBER 8, 2023 — DECIDED JANUARY 8, 2024 ____________________

Before SYKES, Chief Judge, and ROVNER and KIRSCH, Circuit Judges. KIRSCH, Circuit Judge. Randall Ewing and Yasmany Gomez contracted with 1645 W. Farragut LLC (Farragut) to purchase a house. At the time, the house was gutted and needed sub- stantial work. Nonetheless, Ewing and Gomez moved for- ward with the contract based on Farragut’s representation that the house would be renovated and ready by closing. They gave Farragut $117,500 in earnest money, but unbeknownst 2 Nos. 22-2267 & 22-2188 to Ewing and Gomez, the house was under a stop work order. That order hindered their ability to obtain a mortgage by clos- ing, and they requested to have their earnest money returned. Farragut refused. Ewing and Gomez sued Farragut for breach of contract, common law fraud, and fraud under the Illinois Consumer Fraud Act. The district court found Farragut liable for fraud and breach of contract on summary judgment, and a jury awarded Ewing and Gomez $905,000 in damages after trial. Farragut then moved for judgment as a matter of law, arguing that it did not cause most of the damages, and moved for a new trial based on various evidentiary and jury instruction issues. The district court denied both motions, and Farragut appealed. On cross appeal, Ewing and Gomez seek to reverse the denial of their motions to amend the complaint to add Erik Carrier (Farragut’s principal) to the case. Because the record supports the damages awarded in this case, and because the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying the mo- tion for a new trial and the motions to amend, we affirm. I 1645 W. Farragut LLC is a limited liability company owned and controlled by Erik Carrier. In January 2016, Far- ragut purchased a gutted house in Chicago, located at 1645 West Farragut Avenue. Farragut planned to renovate the house and make improvements to its floorplan. In February 2016, a City of Chicago inspector discovered that Farragut had impermissibly performed structural work on the house without a permit. As a result, Farragut had to pause all con- struction on the house. A proper permit was not obtained un- til August 26, 2016, and a stop work order remained in effect until November 23, 2016. Nos. 22-2267 & 22-2188 3

Meanwhile, in March 2016, Appellees, Randall Ewing and his husband, Yasmany Gomez, wished to relocate from Flor- ida and wanted to buy a home in Chicago. They first viewed a house located at 1651 West Farragut Avenue but then turned their attention next door to the gutted 1645 West Far- ragut property because of its customizability. Appellees ex- pressed interest in the property, and Farragut, through Car- rier, stated that the renovation would be completed in six months even though Carrier already knew construction had been paused. Carrier even assured Appellees’ realtor that Far- ragut had all the proper permits in place and that the house complied with building codes. On April 17, 2016, Appellees and Farragut executed a con- tract for the purchase of the house. The contract stated that closing would occur on or around October 3, 2016, and that Farragut had not received any notice of zoning or building violations that had no