OZARK, Mo. -- A week after closing its doors, a title company is now the focus of a lawsuit in Christian County. The lawsuit against Guaranty Title basically says there is reason to think some money that it was supposed to be holding and paying out may have disappeared. That may leave some people building homes high and dry.

The plaintiff is Guaranty Title's underwriter, Commonwealth Land Title. That's the company that backs up the money that Guaranty is supposed to hold and disburse for people who have construction loans. Guaranty had about 10 offices in Springfield and surrounding towns.

At Commonwealth's request, a judge granted a temporary restraining order, freezing all of Guaranty's bank accounts until Commonwealth can do an audit to figure out how much, if any, money is missing and who Guaranty owes. The lawsuit also names 13 banks that have Guaranty's accounts, as well as Rick Burton of Nixa and Kathy Allen of Sarcoxie, owners of Guaranty.

Keith Chaffin of Hogan Land Title Company of Springfield, which is not involved in the lawsuit, says the audit could take six months to a year. While he says most home sales that Guaranty was handling will simply be passed to other title companies, some construction projects could feel the impact of the drawn-out process.

That's because one role of a title company is disbursing construction funds: a customer gets a loan from a bank, the bank gives the money to the title company to hold, and the title company pays the bills for construction as needed.

The problem with the freeze on Guaranty's accounts is, until a judge can figure out where the money is, no one gets paid. What's worse, construction workers could put a lien on a project, effectively forcing the homeowner to pay.