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

Mealey's Construction Defects

December 19, 2022
Md. Federal Judge Issues Mixed Ruling On Multiple Motions Over Home Water Leaks

GREENBELT, Md. — There is no genuine issue of material fact about whether a new home was free from defects because the home suffered from water leaks and mold growth and was not built to the standard the builder guaranteed, a Maryland federal judge held in granting a homeowner’s motion for partial summary judgment on her breach of warranty and breach of contract claims against the builder of the new home.
December 16, 2022
Wash. Panel: Apartment Complex Owner Was Not Assigned Construction Warranties

TACOMA, Wash. — An apartment complex owner who sued the builder of the complex for construction defects was not assigned any construction warranties and was owed no independent tort duty outside the construction contract, a Washington appeals court panel found in affirming a trial court’s decision to grant the builder’s motion for summary judgment.
December 16, 2022
Arizona Panel Vacates $30,000 Repair Fund Award And Remands Leaky Roof Dispute

PHOENIX — A homeowner who filed a claim with Arizona’s Residential Contractors’ Recovery Fund carried the burden of proving the damages caused to his roof, an Arizona panel held in vacating a trial court’s award to the homeowner and remanding the matter to the Arizona Registrar of Contractors (ROC) director.
December 01, 2022
Federal Judge Approves Care Homes’ Consent Orders In $450,000 ADA Violation Suit

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A Pennsylvania federal judge approved two separate consent orders submitted jointly by the U.S. government and two separate nursing home facilities after approving a $450,000 settlement with architects in a suit brought by the government against the owners of senior homes and the architects who designed them, alleging failure to meet the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements.
November 30, 2022
N.C. Federal Magistrate Lifts Stay After Dismissal Of Construction Defects Appeal

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — A federal magistrate judge in North Carolina granted a joint request and stipulation to lift a stay filed by a custom homebuilder, its general contractor and a homeowning couple following the parties’ joint stipulation of voluntary dismissal of the builder and contractor’s appeal to the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals of an order denying their motion to compel arbitration and to dismiss the couple’s construction defects counterclaims.
November 30, 2022
Illinois Panel: Construction Case Not Precluded By Voluntarily Dismissed Claims

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — An Illinois appellate court panel affirmed a more than $168,000 award entered in favor of two homeowners in a construction defects suit and determined that the trial court did not err in finding that the builder failed to construct the house in a workmanlike manner and that the homeowners’ suit was not barred by a previous suit filed against the builder by the homeowners.
November 30, 2022
Certifier And Accreditor Move To Dismiss American Plywood Manufacturers’ Complaint

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A plywood certifying agency and its accreditor moved to dismiss a first amended complaint filed in Florida federal court by a coalition of nine American plywood manufacturers who allege that the agency and accreditor are exposing Florida residents to serious injury or death by certifying substandard Brazilian plywood as meeting U.S. standards.
November 30, 2022
N.C. Panel Partially Affirms Dismissal Of Contribution Claims In Waterproofing Row

RALEIGH, N.C. — A waterproofing company failed to sufficiently allege some of its claims against a manufacturer of waterproofing products but sufficiently alleged all of its claims against a landscaping company, a North Carolina panel found in reversing in part and affirming in part one order and fully reversing another filed by a trial court that dismissed the waterproofing company’s third-party complaint in which it sought contribution and indemnification of costs sought against it by a seller of a home who had to repair water intrusion discovered by the subsequent homeowners.
November 29, 2022
2nd PEX Piping Class Suit Dismissed At Parties’ Request After 1st Case Settled

SAN ANTONIO — A federal judge in Texas on Nov. 28 dismissed a putative class suit alleging faulty polyethylene (PEX) piping based on parties’ advisory report filed less than a week earlier in which the plaintiffs stated that a class action may no longer be pursued after a class settlement was approved in another case by homeowners against the same PEX piping company.
November 29, 2022
Washington Panel: Evidence Supports Trial Court’s Construction Defects Findings

TACOMA, Wash. — A Washington appeals panel found that substantial evidence supported a trial court’s findings that a builder failed to install footing drains and defectively installed a sill plate but remanded the case for the limited purpose of determining whether the builder’s breach of the construction contract was material because the trial court failed to apply the correct test when determining the breach of contract issue.
November 28, 2022
In Stucco Row, Homeowner Files 7th Complaint And Judge Dismisses Counterclaim

MOBILE, Ala. — In separate orders, an Alabama federal judge dismissed a counterclaim for indemnity brought by the manager of a stucco inspector against a contractor and allowed a homeowner and the contractor to file their seventh amended complaint, finding good cause to permit new allegations of misrepresentation to be variously raised against manufacturers, distributors, inspectors and other professionals involved in the allegedly defective application of stucco products onto a new home because those allegations were based on information discovered in depositions taken after a deadline to amend the pleadings.
November 23, 2022
Calif. High Court Denies Homeowners’ Petition For Review Of Roofing Decision

SAN DIEGO — The California Supreme Court denied a petition for review filed by two homeowners who argued that an appellate court reached the wrong conclusion when it determined that a roof is not a “manufactured product” for the purposes of the state’s Right to Repair Act and found that a trial court did not err in finding that homeowners were required to provide evidence of water intrusion or falling materials to advance their defective roofing claims under the act.
November 23, 2022
Homeowners Tell 9th Circuit Judge Erred By Denying Certification In Defect Case

SAN FRANCISCO — A group of homeowners unsealed their opening brief to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in which they argue that a federal judge’s refusal to certify a class accusing construction supply manufacturers of selling defective foundational anchors and ties in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) was “peppered with legal and factual errors.”
November 22, 2022
Federal Judge Denies Motion To Dismiss In Defective Roof Repair Dispute

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — In denying a roofer’s motion to dismiss a technology company’s fraud claims related to the roofer’s alleged defective repair work, a federal judge in West Virginia declined to consider the warranty document attached to the roofer’s motion to dismiss because it was not the same warranty referenced in the complaint and found that the “gist of the action” doctrine did not apply to bar the fraud claim because it was based on “expressions of intention” during negotiation of the contract.
November 22, 2022
Amended Settlement And Motion For Attorney Fees Filed In Shingle Dispute

PHILADELPHIA — A class of property owners whose roofs were affected by allegedly defective shingles moved for more than $1.6 million in attorney fees against the manufacturer of the shingles following a Pennsylvania federal judge’s preliminary approval of a modified settlement agreement that will establish a claims process for the property owners to be compensated.
November 22, 2022
American Makers Amend False Advertising Claims Against Brazilian Plywood Certifier

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A plywood certifying agency and its accreditor are exposing Florida residents to serious injury or death by certifying Brazilian plywood as meeting U.S. standards, a coalition of nine American plywood manufacturers claim in their first amended complaint filed in the same Florida federal court that previously issued a permanent injunction against another certifying agency.
November 22, 2022
Federal Judge: No Punitive Damages Under Texas Law For Chinese Drywall Claims

HOUSTON — In two nearly identical orders in separate cases severed from the same multidistrict litigation regarding allegedly defective Chinese-manufactured drywall, a Texas federal judge granted the drywall manufacturers’ motions for summary judgment on two sets of property owners’ punitive damages and unfair trade practices claims because the property owners failed to allege fraud, malice or gross negligence, as required for punitive damages under Texas law, and failed to identify a deceptive trade practice or act that occurred during their purchase of the properties.
November 18, 2022
Calif. Judge Determines Settlement Of Construction Claims Was Made In Good Faith

LOS ANGELES — A settlement agreement entered into by a housing developer, its two neighbors and various construction professionals that will resolve the neighbors’ separate cases in their entirety as well as various claims and defenses from other actions related to the allegedly negligent construction of an underground parking garage was made in good faith, a California judge determined.
November 17, 2022
Judge Issues Order Closing Case In ADA Violation Suit Against Housing Authority

NEW ORLEANS — After a $250,000 consent order was issued the previous month, a Louisiana federal judge on Nov. 16 issued an order closing a suit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice against the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO) and seven private developers alleging violations of the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) in building eight multiunit residential facilities.
November 15, 2022
Parties File Notice Of Settlement In Insurance Row Over Storm-Damaged Pole Barn

BISMARCK, N.D. — An insurer filed a notice in North Dakota federal court stating that it settled its breach of contract and breach of implied warranty of fitness claims and intends to file a stipulation of dismissal in the action it brought against a manufacturer of pole barns and the subcontractor hired to construct a pole barn, which was later destroyed in a storm.
November 15, 2022
Housing Developer Argues Review Of Right To Repair Decision Is Unnecessary

SAN DIEGO — The California Supreme Court should not review an appellate panel’s decision that a roof is not a “manufactured product” for the purposes of the state’s Right to Repair Act because there is no split of authority that needs to be resolved and the decision will not negatively affect the future of California construction defect litigation, a housing developer argues in answer to a petition filed by two homeowners.
November 04, 2022
Florida Federal Magistrate Grants Motion To Exclude In Chinese Drywall Case

MIAMI — Testimony from experts retained by homeowners in more than a dozen related cases against Chinese drywall manufacturers is irrelevant and unreliable under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc., a Florida magistrate judge ruled, granting a motion to exclude.
November 03, 2022
Customer, Home Depot, Installer Agree To Dismiss Defective Flooring Claims

TAMPA, Fla. — Parties in a putative class action related to a homeowner’s purchase of allegedly defective flooring products and installation services agreed to dismiss with prejudice the remaining breach of contract claim against Home Depot U.S.A. Inc. and negligence claim against its installer following a federal judge in Florida’s dismissal of Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practice Act (FDUTPA), negligence and warranty claims.
November 03, 2022
Federal Judge Dismisses Most Of Roofing Contractor's Claims, Orders 5th Complaint

FORT MYERS, Fla. — A roofing contractor saw all but one of its claims against a roofing manufacturer and its supplier dismissed by a federal judge in Florida, who found that the contractor failed to state a claims for failure to warn and fraudulent misrepresentations and held that roofing products used on two condominium properties became component parts of the roofs when they were applied, making any damage caused by their malfunction barred by the economic loss doctrine.
November 03, 2022
Florida Jury Awards $4.6 Million To Homeowners For Faulty Construction Claims

VERO BEACH, Fla. — A Florida jury awarded two homeowners $4.6 million on their construction defects claims and found that a builder violated the Florida Building Code when it defectively constructed a new home but said that the company’s principals did not fraudulently induce the homeowners to enter into the construction contract.