NEW DEFECT WARRANTY LAWS – Now Applicable to Condominiums and HOAs transitioning from Developer to Homeowner Control. Is Your Community Aware of its Rights Under the New Laws?
February 07, 2014 —
Nicholas D. Cowie – Maryland Condo Construction Defect Law BlogAll condominium associations and homeowners associations (“HOAs”) created in Maryland 0n or after October 1, 2010 are subject to new laws pertaining to statutory warranties for construction defects in workmanship and materials.
Most associations that have recently transitioned, or that are about to transition, from developer to homeowner control were created on after October 1, 2010. It is now time for these Associations to become familiar with the new laws to ensure they protect and preserve their warranty rights. Below is an Article I wrote regarding these new laws, which I helped create. See Blog Post: “Maryland Construction Defect Lawyers Enforcing Warranty Claims for Condominiums.”
Too often our firm is contacted by condominium associations who never knew what there warranty and other legal rights were until it was too late to seek developer repairs and reimbursement for construction defects. There is no reason for community associations to remain uniformed.
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Nicholas D. Cowie, Maryland Condo Construction Defect Law BlogMr. Cowie may be contacted at
ndc@cowiemott.com
Sales of U.S. Existing Homes Rise to One-Year High
October 22, 2014 —
Michelle Jamrisko – BloombergSales of previously owned homes climbed in September to the highest level in a year, pointing to growing confidence in the U.S. economy as employment firms.
Purchases advanced 2.4 percent to a 5.17 million annual rate, the National Association of Realtors reported today in Washington. Demand was up 1.9 percent compared with the same month last year before adjusting for seasonal patterns.
Americans are returning to the real-estate market as employers have added 2 million workers to payrolls so far this year. Sales stand to get an additional boost in the final months of 2014 as the drop in mortgage rates caused by slowing growth in Europe and emerging nations makes properties more affordable for first-time buyers.
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Michelle Jamrisko, BloombergMs. Jamrisko may be contacted at
mjamrisko@bloomberg.net
Florida Condo Collapse Victims Reach $1 Billion Settlement
May 23, 2022 —
Erik Larson - BloombergVictims of the South Florida condominium collapse that killed 98 people last year reached settlements totaling almost $1 billion with defendants including the developer of an adjacent luxury tower, engineers and a law firm for the condo association.
The massive deal was cobbled together through multiple agreements before a state court hearing Wednesday in Miami, according to Harley S. Tropin, one of the lead plaintiffs’ lawyers who had sued on behalf of survivors and victims’ families. He said he disclosed the settlements in court.
“We are pleased to have resolved this case with the defendants to get what we think is a very fair recovery to help end the litigation and allow the victims to attain some means of attempting to move forward from this horrific tragedy,” Tropin said in an emailed statement.
The 12-story Champlain Towers South condominium building in Surfside, Florida, collapsed June 24, triggering multiple lawsuits and prompting state and federal probes. A focus was the development of the Renzo Piano-designed Eighty Seven Park high-rise next door to the Champlain Towers.
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Erik Larson, Bloomberg
California Restricts Principles of “General” Personal Jurisdiction
April 01, 2015 —
Kristian B. Moriarty and R. Bryan Martin – Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLPIn BNSF Railway Company v. Superior Court (Kralovetz) (Filed 3/27/2015, No. B260798), the California Court of Appeal, Second District, held a Delaware railroad corporation, with its principal place of business in Texas, was not subject to “general” personal jurisdiction in California, despite California housing 8.1% of the corporation’s total workforce, accounting for 6% of the corporation’s revenue, and containing just under 5% of its total track mileage.
Plaintiff, Vicki Kralovetz, filed suit in California Superior Court against defendant, BNSF Railway Company (“BNSF”), and others, for wrongful death. Plaintiff contended her husband was exposed to asbestos products manufactured by BNSF in Kansas while working at a dismantling facility owned by BNSF’s predecessor in interest. Plaintiff claimed the exposure caused her husband to contract mesothelioma, which resulted in his death.
Reprinted courtesy of
Kristian B. Moriarty, Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP and
R. Bryan Martin, Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP
Mr. Moriarty may be contacted at mmoriarty@hbblaw.com
Mr. Martin may be contacted at bmartin@hbblaw.com
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Mobile Home Owners Not a Class in Drainage Lawsuit
March 01, 2012 —
CDJ STAFFComparing it to a “complex construction defect action,” the California Court of Appeals for Orange County has rejected the claims of a group of mobile home owners that they should be certified as a class in their lawsuit against Huntington Shorecliffs Mobilehome Park. The Appeals court sustained the judgment of the lower court. The court issued a decision in the case of Criswell v. MMR Family LLC on January 17, 2012.
The claims made by the group were that the owners and operators of the mobile home park had known of an “on-going and potentially worsening shallow groundwater condition on the property” and had “exacerbated the problem by changing ‘the configuration and drainage related to the hillside that abuts’ the park.” The homeowners claimed that the class should consist of “any past or current homeowner during the same time frame” who had experienced “the accumulation of mold, fungus, and/or other toxins,” “property damage to his/her mobilehome and/or other property resulting from drainage problems, water seepage, water accumulation, moisture build-up, mold, fungus, and/or other toxins,” emotional distress related to drainage problems or mold, and finally health problems “resulting from exposure to drainage problems, water seepage, water accumulation, moisture build-up, mold, fungus, and/or other toxins, in or around one’s home, lot, or common areas of the park.”
The lower court concluded that while the limits of the class were identifiable, they failed to constitute a class in other ways. First, the people affected were small enough in number that they could be brought together. They “are not so numerous that it would be impracticable to bring them all before the Court.”
The court noted that while many of the homeowners would have issues in common, they did not find “a well-defined community of interest among the class members.” The Appeals Court wrote that “the individual issues affecting each mobile home and homeowner will predominate over the common issue of the presence of standing or pooling water in and around the park.” The court noted that each home would be affected differently by water and “the ‘accumulation of mold, fungus, and/or other toxins.’”
While the court conceded that there would be common issues, such as the “defendants’ alleged concealment of excess moisture conditions and their allegedly negligent roadwork and landscaping,” they noted that “these common issues would be swamped by the swarm of individual determinations of property damage, emotional distress, and personal injury.” The Appeals Court cited an earlier case that ruled against certification “if a class action ‘will splinter into individual trials.’” The court affirmed the judgment of the lower court that they could not proceed as a class.
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FEMA Fire Management Assistance Granted for the French Fire
July 08, 2024 —
The Federal Emergency Management AgencyOAKLAND, Calif. – The Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Region 9 Administrator authorized the use of federal funds on July 4 at 11:37 p.m. PDT / 2:37 a.m. EDT to assist the state of California to combat the French Fire burning in Mariposa County.
On July 4, the state of California submitted a request for a Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG). At the time of the request, the fire threatened approximately 1,019 homes in and around Mariposa, CA, population 1,300. 95% of the threatened homes are primary residences and 5% are secondary residences.
The fire started on July 4, 2024 and had burned more than 790 acres of State and private land. The fire was 0% contained. There are five large fires burning uncontrolled within the State.
FMAGs provide federal funding for up to 75 percent of eligible firefighting costs. The Disaster Relief Fund provides allowances for FMAGs through FEMA to assist in fighting fires that threaten to become a greater incident.
Eligible costs covered by FMAGs can include expenses for field camps, equipment use, materials, supplies and mobilization, and demobilization activities attributed to fighting the fire.
For more information on FMAGs, visit https://www.fema.gov/assistance/public/fire-management-assistance.
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No Coverage for Alleged Misrepresentation Claim
January 23, 2023 —
Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law HawaiiThe court found there was no coverage for a misrepresentation claim against the insured sellers of a residence. Am. Family Mut. Ins. Co. v. Coyne, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 186417 (E.D. Mo. Oct. 12, 2022).
Aaron and Tobi Beckman purchased a home from Denise Coyne. The Bockmans alleged in the underlying suit that Coyne represented that the property had a "2-car garage." A disclosure statement signed by Coyne stated she had disclosed all conditions which might lower the value of the property or adversely affect the Bockman's decision to buy the property. After purchasing the property, the Bockmans learned that they could not fit their two vehicles in the attached garage. The Bockmans alleged that substantial remediation was necessary to expand the depth of the garage to fit two cars within it.
The underlying suit alleged that Coyne had was engaged in fraud, misrepresentation and concealment by omitting material facts in connection with the sale of the home. Coyne allegedly engaged in negligent misrepresentation by failing to inform the Bockmans of the depth of the attached garage.
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Tred R. Eyerly, Damon Key Leong Kupchak HastertMr. Eyerly may be contacted at
te@hawaiilawyer.com
Terminating A Subcontractor Or Sub-Tier Contractor—Not So Fast—Read Your Contract!
May 24, 2018 —
John P. Ahlers - Ahlers Cressman & Sleight PLLC BlogEvery few months I receive a call from a general contractor or subcontractor who has just terminated a subcontractor or sub-tier contractor for non-performance and is “checking in with me to see if there are any liability issues.” After the termination has taken place, if the termination is wrongful, there are serious legal consequences. Calling your lawyer after the fact will not cure missteps in the termination process. Termination for non-performance is a common term in most contract documents. As courts interpret contracts, however, the right to earn revenue from a contract is a substantial interest, and courts generally “abhor” forfeitures (termination) of that right. In other words, the courts will strictly determine whether the terminating party to a contract has complied with the termination process to the letter. A recent example from Connecticut is instructive in this regard. [1]
The general contractor on a large hospital project in Connecticut terminated its electrical subcontractor, hired others to finish the electrical subcontractor’s work, and then sued the electrical subcontractor for $26 million. The electrical subcontractor countersued the general contractor for $3.6 million of work that it had completed at the time of the termination which had not been paid for. The subcontractor claimed that due to the many changes that had occurred on the project, it stopped work because the changes altered the contract to the point that it was no longer the same contract. The subcontractor walked off the project and the general contractor then terminated the subcontractor and re-procured the work from other subcontractors.
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John P. Ahlers, Ahlers Cressman & Sleight PLLCMr. Ahlers may be contacted at
john.ahlers@acslawyers.com
