Mealey's Construction Defects : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Construction Defects

March 14, 2023
Builder Asks Supreme Court If Anti-Arbitration Presumption Applies To Home Sales

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Supreme Court review of a South Carolina Supreme Court ruling is necessary to determine whether state courts can apply presumptions disfavoring arbitration agreements in homebuying contracts, a homebuilder who was sued for construction defects argues in a petition for a writ of certiorari.
March 02, 2023
Louisiana Federal Judge Vacates Order Staying Mold Dispute In Favor Of Arbitration

BATON ROUGE, La. — A Louisiana federal judge granted a homebuilder’s motion for leave to waive its claim to attorney fees arising from an untimely opposition to a motion to stay pending arbitration filed by homeowners in their mold and water intrusion case; the March 1 order was filed less than a week after the judge granted the homeowners’ motion for reconsideration and vacated an earlier order staying their case in favor of arbitration but ordered them to show why they should not be required to pay attorney fees.
March 02, 2023
Colorado Federal Judge Grants Summary Judgment In Plumbing System Dispute

DENVER — A Colorado federal judge granted summary judgment to a chemical company and partial summary judgment to a pipe manufacturer whose products were used in a newly constructed apartment building’s plumbing system that, according to the building’s owner, allegedly leaked as a result of the companies’ faulty products or the system’s installation.
March 01, 2023
In Leaky Pool Case, Judge Partly Grants Summary Judgment, Excludes Testimony

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — In three orders filed the same day, a Tennessee federal judge partially granted summary judgment in favor of a contractor that oversaw the construction of a leaky pool on a home property, partially excluded the testimony of the property owner’s expert witnesses and reset a new date for a jury trial.
February 28, 2023
Fla. Federal Judge Stays Plywood Dispute In Anticipation Of Accreditation Decision

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A Florida federal judge temporarily stayed and administratively closed an action brought by a coalition of American plywood manufacturers who allege that a plywood certifier is certifying substandard Brazilian plywood as meeting U.S. standards because the parties indicated in a joint status report that the accreditor has suspended the certifier’s accreditation and will soon decide whether to permanently revoke it.
February 24, 2023
Parties In Water Damage Suit File Briefs On Dismissed Party’s Arguments For Remand

CHARLESTON, S.C. — In supplemental briefs filed at the court’s request, a group of homeowners who allege that their newly built homes suffer from water damage argue that the South Carolina federal court cannot consider arguments posited by a dismissed defendant on the issue of remand while the homebuilder argued the opposite.
February 22, 2023
Supreme Court Denies Former Residents’ Petition In London Tower Fire Dispute

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 21 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by former residents of a London high-rise public housing building that was destroyed by fire allegedly stoked by flammable building panels who had asked the high court to decide whether the unavailability of punitive damages in an alternative forum should weigh against dismissal of a case on forum non conveniens grounds.
February 21, 2023
Ala. High Court: Condo Owners Got Fair Arbitration Hearing On Construction Claims

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — An association of condominium owners received a fair arbitration hearing despite the arbitration panel’s decision not to reopen discovery because photographs sought by the association, which allegedly showed construction defects to the condominium building’s balconies, might not have existed, the Alabama Supreme Court unanimously held Feb. 17 in affirming a trial court’s denial of the association’s motion to vacate the judgment entered on the arbitration award.
February 17, 2023
In Stucco Dispute, Texas Panel Says Homeowners Can’t Be Compelled To Arbitrate

AUSTIN, Texas — Subsequent homeowners who did not sign an arbitration agreement cannot be compelled to arbitrate by the homebuilder because their defective stucco claims do not arise from the contract signed between the original homeowners and the builder, and direct benefits estoppel does not apply, a Texas panel held in affirming a trial court’s denial of the homebuilder’s motion to compel arbitration.
February 16, 2023
Tenn. Federal Judge: Homeowner No Longer Pursuing Claims For Electrical Work

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — An electrical company that performed electrical work on a defectively constructed pool is entitled to summary judgment on third-party claims for indemnity because the applicable statute of repose bars the claims and the original plaintiff-homeowner is no longer seeking damages based on the allegedly faulty electrical work, a Tennessee federal judge held in granting the electrical company’s motion for summary judgment.
February 16, 2023
Wyoming Supreme Court: Terms Of Construction Contract Are ‘Ambiguous’

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The provisions of a contract for the construction of an assisted living facility that suffered damage from water saturation in the soil near the building are “ambiguous” and capable of more than one meaning, the Wyoming Supreme Court found in reversing and remanding a trial court’s grant of summary judgment on a breach of contract claim brought by the operator of the facility against the general contractor who performed its construction.
February 15, 2023
In Chinese Drywall MDL, Federal Judge Refuses To Allow New Expert Disclosures

NEW ORLEANS — Two property owners whose buildings were allegedly affected by defectively manufactured Chinese drywall failed to show that good cause exists to file new expert disclosures nearly three years after the deadline to do so had passed, a Louisiana federal judge found in denying the property owners’ motion to file the disclosures in a multidistrict litigation.
February 14, 2023
Fla. Federal Judge Grants Summary Judgment In 15 Chinese Drywall Cases

TAMPA, Fla. — In 15 of 25 cases brought by homeowners who were allegedly affected by defective Chinese-manufactured drywall, a Florida federal judge adopted the reports of a magistrate judge who recommended granting summary judgment in favor of a drywall manufacturer on the issues of the statute of limitations and damages and denying summary judgment on the issue of the subsequent purchaser doctrine.
February 08, 2023
Delaware Judge Reduces $12.9M Jury Verdict For Negligent Construction Claims

GEORGETOWN, Del. — A jury’s verdict for $12.9 million in favor of a condominium association and condominium owners for damages caused by a builder’s negligent construction of parts of the condominium units was excessive and influenced by improper testimony regarding inflation and additional costs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, a Delaware judge found in reducing the award to $8.3 million.
February 06, 2023
California Supreme Court Will Not Hear Custom Home Construction Defects Dispute

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California Supreme Court denied a homeowner’s petition for review of his case in which a jury found against him on claims of defective construction brought against the contractors, managers and subcontractors who worked on his custom home.
February 02, 2023
Damages For Homeowners Affected By Chinese Drywall Limited By Florida Law

TAMPA, Fla. — Homeowners seeking damages under the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUPTA) against a manufacturer of defective Chinese-manufactured drywall are limited to the reduction in value of the drywall as a result of the alleged defect, a federal judge in Florida ruled in adopting a magistrate judge’s recommendation on the manufacturer’s motion for summary judgment on the issue in 25 related cases.
February 01, 2023
Ohio Panel: Defective Pool And Deck Claims Are Covered By Consumer Sales Act

CANTON, Ohio — Defective construction claims brought by the estate of a homeowner against a contractor are covered by Ohio’s Consumer Sales Practices Act (CSPA) because the construction of the pool and deck were an improvement to an old home and not an “accessory construction,” an Ohio panel wrote in partially affirming and partially reversing a trial court’s judgment.
February 01, 2023
Texas Supreme Court: Children’s Home Defects Claims ‘Fully Joined’ With Parents’

AUSTIN, Texas — Two minor children can be compelled to arbitrate construction defects claims arising from mold in their family home because the petition filed by their parents, signatories of a purchase agreement containing an arbitration clause, did not distinguish between the four individuals on the breach of contract claim, the Texas Supreme Court held in a per curiam opinion reversing an appellate court’s judgment.
February 01, 2023
Split Ohio Panel Affirms Summary Judgment On Homeowners’ Tile Claims

TOLEDO, Ohio — Homeowners’ negligent design and negligent supervision claims are time-barred by the four-year statute of limitations while their claim for breach of the duty to build in a workmanlike manner fails because the allegedly defective floor joists were not hidden from a reasonably available inspection, an Ohio appellate court panel majority held in affirming a grant of summary judgment in favor of the defendant homebuilder.
January 31, 2023
Florida Federal Judge Partly Dismisses Fraud Claim, Leaves Others In Stucco Suit

MOBILE, Ala. — A Florida federal judge partially dismissed a fraudulent misrepresentation claim against a stucco manufacturer and completely dismissed that claim and a suppression claim against a stucco inspector and distributor but otherwise left the remaining claims alive against the manufacturer in a suit alleging the use of defective stucco products during the construction of a new home.
January 31, 2023
Pa. Panel: Homebuilder Failed To Properly Plead Statute Of Limitations Defense

HARRISBURG, Pa. — The statute of limitations did not serve to bar homeowners’ claims for breach of contract arising from alleged defective workmanship of a new home because the builder failed to plead the defense with specificity, a Pennsylvania appellate court panel held in affirming a trial court’s consolidated ruling on separate suits filed by the homeowners and the builder.
January 31, 2023
Texas High Court: Homeowner’s Wife, Children Must Arbitrate Home Defects Claims

AUSTIN, Texas — A homeowner’s wife and children must arbitrate mold claims relating to the house they occupy even though they were not signatories to the home’s purchase agreement, which contained an arbitration agreement, because they benefited from their occupancy of the home, the Texas Supreme Court held in reversing an appellate court’s decision finding that the doctrine of direct-benefits estoppel could not be applied to compel the wife and children to arbitrate.
January 30, 2023
N.Y. Justice: Property Manager Did Not Breach Contract In Balcony Defects Dispute

NEW YORK — A building unit owner’s association and its governing body failed to show that a property manager and its subsidiary breached their contractual duties by failing to investigate original defects in the concrete slabs of the balconies of a building, a New York justice held in granting the property manager and its subsidiary’s motion for summary judgment.
January 30, 2023
Oregon Panel: Statute Of Limitations Not Tolled In Water Intrusion Dispute

SALEM, Ore. — A homeowner’s breach of contract claims are barred by the six-year statute of limitations for contract actions because the homeowner filed suit 10 years after action accrued and the discovery rule does not serve to toll the statute, an Oregon panel held in affirming a trial court’s granting of the homebuilder’s motion for summary judgment.
January 30, 2023
Prior Mutual Release Dooms Subsequent Homeowners’ Defective Chimney Claims

DETROIT — The negligent construction claim of subsequent purchasers of a home with an allegedly defective chimney was properly dismissed by a trial court because the original homeowners released the defendant homebuilder from liability in a mutual release contained in a settlement agreement that resolved a dispute over fees from the home’s original construction, a Michigan panel held in affirming the trial court’s grant of summary disposition in favor of the builder.