Seattle Washington Building Expert Directory

Zoning Hearing Notice Addressed by Georgia Appeals Court

April 20, 2017 — David R. Cook Jr. - Autry, Hanrahan, Hall & Cook, LLP
The Georgia Court of Appeals recently addressed the requisite notice of zoning proceedings that ultimately requested in a zoning decision. The key question was whether, after a properly noticed planning meeting, additional notice was required before the board’s formal vote that occurred three months later. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of David R. Cook, Autry, Hanrahan, Hall & Cook, LLP
Mr. Cook may be contacted at cook@ahclaw.com

XL Group Pairs with America Contractor’s Insurance Group to Improve Quality of Construction

November 13, 2013 — CDJ STAFF
Insurers XL Group and America Contractor’s Insurance Group have teamed up to use “Big Data” to help their clients maintain quality in construction. “Quality is the second leading cause of subcontractor defaults, and one of the biggest areas of profit loss for a General Contractor,” said Jason LaMonica, the profit center head for XL Group’s Subcontractor Default business. ACIG says that their methods “allow us to correlate their quality assurance programs with actual claims results.” ACIG will be adding XL Group’s data to their own, which will allow contractors to “implement best practices leading to continuous improvement in their quality assurance program.” Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of

Contractor Convicted of Additional Fraud

November 18, 2011 — CDJ STAFF

A Pennsylvania contractor in prison for fraud has been convicted with insurance fraud. The York Daily Record reports that Steven D. Gebhart was already in jail for fraud for about $350,000 for work he either failed to finish or even start or by using substandard materials and practices when he was convicted of insurance fraud. Gebbert’s offices were destroyed in a fire that was later determined to be arson. He was not charged with this, but instead for overestimating his losses to the insurance company. Sentencing for the fraud charge will be on December 21.

Read the full story…

Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of

CC&Rs Not the Place for Arbitration Agreement, Court Rules

May 24, 2011 — CDJ STAFF

In January, the California Court of Appeals ruled that an arbitration clause inserted in a development’s CC&Rs by the developer could not be enforced. The case, Villa Vicenza Homeowners Association v. Noble Court Development, involved a case in which, according to the opinion, “following the first sale Nobel controlled the board of directors of the Association and because the initial condominium buyers noticed defects in common areas and common facilities and did not believe Nobel had provided a reserve fund sufficient to repair the defects, the condominium owners brought a derivative action on behalf of the Association against Nobel.”

The court concluded, “The use of CC&R's as a means of providing contractual rights to parties with no interest in or responsibility for a common interest development is also problematic from the standpoint of determining what if any consideration would support such third-party agreements. By their terms the CC&R's bind all successors, even those with whom a third party such as Nobel has never had any contractual relationship and to whom Nobel has not provided any consideration.” The court determined that “the trial court did not err in denying Nobel's motion to compel arbitration.”

Read the court’s decision

Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of

Construction Litigation Roundup: “It’s None of Your Business.”

May 22, 2023 — Daniel Lund III - Lexology
“It’s none of your business.” So said a construction surety resisting discovery of its underwriting file in the context of the surety’s affirmative $2 million indemnity claim (on a $25M bond), and a Missouri federal court agreed. In response to the surety’s indemnity suit, the defaulted principal contractor and additional corporate indemnitors offered up defenses of “lack of consideration and the doctrine of unclean hands, laches, waiver and/or estoppel, among others.” The indemnitors also issued written discovery to the surety seeking to obtain the surety’s underwriting file – which would reveal the underpinnings of the surety’s decision to issue the bond to the contractor – asserting “that the underwriting and due diligence documents are relevant to the[] lack of consideration defense. [Indemnitors] claim that ‘[t]his defense is based on Defendants' belief that Plaintiff did not conduct any reasonable inquiry into any Defendants' ability to pay or financial resources and therefore Plaintiff did not rely on the financial condition of each Defendant in determining whether to issue the bonds.’" Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Daniel Lund III, Phelps
Mr. Lund may be contacted at daniel.lund@phelps.com

These Are the 13 Cities Where Millennials Can't Afford a Home

June 10, 2015 — Victoria Stilwell and Wei Lu – Bloomberg
There's no place like home — except when you can't afford one. Millennials have been priced out of some of the biggest U.S. cities, with residential real estate prices rising even as wage growth remains elusive. Bloomberg used data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Zillow Group Inc. and Bankrate.com to quantify how much more money millennials would need to earn each year to afford a home in the largest U.S. cities. The good news is that out of 50 metropolitan areas, 37 are actually affordable for the typical 18-34 year-old (scroll down to the end of the story to see the full results). The bad news is that the areas that often most appeal to young adults are also the ones where homeownership is the most out of reach. Reprinted courtesy of Victoria Stilwell, Bloomberg and Wei Lu, Bloomberg Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of

Should CGL Insurer have Duty to Defend Insured During Chapter 558 Notice of Construction Defects Process???

September 01, 2016 — David Adelstein – Florida Construction Legal Updates
Does a CGL insurer have a duty to defend its insured-contractor during Florida Statutes Chapter 558 notice of construction defects pre-suit process? This answer is currently undecided and will be up to the Florida Supreme Court to decide. (It is on appeal stemming from a federal district court saying that an insurer does not have a duty to defend its insured-contractor in the 558 process based on the definition of the word “suit” in the CGL policy.) Why is this an important issue? The 558 pre-suit notice of construction defects process is designed to facilitate an avenue for construction defect lawsuits to get resolved without having to file a lawsuit or, at least, have issues narrowed before a lawsuit needs to be filed. (Check here for a summary of the 558 process.) It requires pre-suit notifications so that implicated parties can become aware of the defects and have an opportunity to inspect the defects / damage, test the defects / damage, and respond to the notice of construction defects; it provides an avenue for beneficial pre-suit discovery. Through participating in the 558 process, the contractor and/or design professional (and those downstream from them) can: (i) offer to remedy the defect, (ii) settle the defect, whether through money or a combination of money and repairs, (iii) dispute the defect, or (iv) advise that available insurance proceeds will be determined by its liability insurer. See Fla. Stat. s. 558.004. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of David M. Adelstein, Kirwin Norris
Mr. Adelstein may be contacted at dma@kirwinnorris.com

Insureds' Experts Insufficient to Survive Insurer's Motion for Summary Judgment

October 17, 2023 — Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law Hawaii
The magistrate recommended that insurer's motion for summary judgment be granted due to the insureds' expert's inability to present genuine issues of material fact. Walker v. Century Sur. Co., 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 142408 (E.D. Texas July 17, 2023). The insureds' property sustained damage from Hurricane Laura. Colonial Claims inspected the property for Century and reported that a portion of the roof was damaged by the hurricane. Century paid insureds $2,212,34. Van Fisher, an engineer with Envista Forensics, then inspected the interior of the property on Century's behalf. Fisher reported that there was some covered interior damage caused by a leak from a storm-created opening in the roof. However, Fisher further reported that there was other interior damage caused by existing water leaks not attributed to the hurricane and thus not covered by the policy. Century then paid the insureds an additional $485.05 based on Fisher's inspection. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Tred R. Eyerly, Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert
Mr. Eyerly may be contacted at te@hawaiilawyer.com

SEATTLE WASHINGTON BUILDING EXPERT DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES