FAIRFIELD CONNECTICUT BUILDING EXPERT
DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES

Limitations on the Ability to Withdraw and De-Annex Property from a Common Interest Community

October 10, 2013 — Derek Lindenschmidt — Higgins, Hopkins, McLain & Roswell, LLC.
On February 28, 2013, the Colorado Court of Appeals issued its opinion with regard to the ability of an owner (and in this case, a real estate investment owner) to withdraw and de-annex lots from a common interest community. Specifically, in Vista Ridge Homeowners Ass’n., Inc. v. Arcadia Holdings at Vista Ridge, LLC, 300 P.3d 1004 (Colo. App. 2013), the Court denied Arcadia’s appeal of a lower Colorado District Court ruling which invalidated Arcadia’s attempt to withdraw and de-annex 70 single-family lots which it owned from the 94-lot Vista Ridge Filing No. 9. The applicable Declaration reserved the right to withdraw or de-annex any portion of the community in accordance with the Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act (CCIOA), and further limited such right to the extent that “no portion of the Property may be withdrawn or de-annexed after a Lot or Unit in that portion of the Property has been conveyed to an Owner other than a Declarant or a Builder.” The decision ultimately turned on the meaning of a “portion” of the property, as intended by CCIOA, and as applied to the specific language in the Vista Ridge Declaration. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Derek Lindenschmidt
Derek Lindenschmidt can be contacted at lindenschmidt@hhmrlaw.com

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Steps to Defending against Construction Defect Lawsuits

July 21, 2011 — CDJ STAFF

Writing in Claims Journal, Bryan Rendzio notes that the decline in construction has not been matched by a decline in construction defect lawsuits over condominiums. He reviews the ways in which lawyers representing developers can help protect their clients. He identifies four important considerations in defending developers from claims of construction defects.



He advocates a careful review of the contract. “Under a breach of contract claim, the insured’s duties to the party who brought the claim against the insured flow from the contract. Commonly, construction contracts limit the scope of recoverable damages, such as by waiving consequential damages.’



The next step, according to Rendzio is to check of a settlement agreement is already in place, noting that these are “a familiar occurrence in the construction industry, regardless of any lawsuits having been filed.”



He considers the statute of repose “the single-most decisive weapon an insured possesses in its arsenal during a condo defect lawsuit.” He notes that no lawsuits can be brought for construction defects after the end specified by the statute of repose, and if a lawsuit is brought beforehand, no additional parties can be named once the statute has taken effect.



Finally, he warns adjusters to be suspicious when a condo association requests contractual indemnification. He notes that the pitfall in this is that developers and the subsequent condominium association often have similar names, given the theoretical example of a condo project built by “Fake Lakes LLC” and later run by the “Fake Lakes Condominium Association.” Writing in regards to Florida law, he notes that condominium associations do not have successor interest in contracts developers made with contractors.

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No Coverage Under Exclusions For Wind and Water Damage

March 30, 2016 — Tred R. Eyerly – Insurance Law Hawaii
The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed the granting of summary judgment to the insurer that there was no coverage under the all risk policy for loss caused by wind and water. Porter v. Grand Casino of Miss., Inc., 2016 Miss. LEXIS 3 (Miss. Jan. 7, 2016). Cherri Porter's home was destroyed during Hurricane Katrina. The destruction occurred when the barge operated by Grand Casino of Mississippi came loose from its moorings and collided with her home. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Tred R. Eyerly, Insurance Law Hawaii
Mr. Eyerly may be contacted at te@hawaiilawyer.com

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Elevators Take Sustainable Smart Cities to the Next Level

May 26, 2019 — Chris Smith - Construction Executive
From electric cars to solar panels, technology has been at the forefront of innovation in sustainability efforts. As greenhouse gas emissions continue to be a critical global concern, developing smart cities and sustainable energy practices are more important than ever. In fact, Gartner predicts that by 2020, half of all smart city objectives will be centered around climate change, resilience and sustainability. To build truly intelligent cities, we need to optimize the sharing of information at a foundational level, starting with the structures on which these cities are built. Where do we begin? The United Nations estimates that almost 40 percent of today’s global greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings. To reduce these levels, the industry needs to begin creating smarter structures that use data insights to streamline functions in the building, and this starts with the infrastructural backbone: the elevator. Reprinted courtesy of Chris Smith, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved. Read the court decision
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Technology and the Environment Lead Construction Trends That Will Continue Through 2019

June 03, 2019 — Ryan Gould - Construction Executive
There are common factors that have always defined trends in the construction industry. Elements such as labor (be it shortages or surpluses), the economy and technology determine what gets built where, when and how. These elements have led to the rise of entire philosophies to boost profits and maximize value, such as the lean construction movement. Often these trends appear in the form of answers that help construction companies eliminate waste, curb overproduction, use talent properly, manage inventory more effectively, boost process workflow, reduce defects, and help to plan and schedule projects more efficiently. In 2019, two factors are driving trends that are overtaking the industry: technology and the environment. They’re not only informing construction industry trends today, but they’re going to last and evolve into the foreseeable future. Offsite construction becomes standard Obviously, this isn’t a new trend. The earliest origins of this method, at least in North America, date to colonists importing pre-packaged construction materials from Europe to the New World in the 17th century. Then there were the kit homes sold by Sears, Roebuck, and Co. at the turn of the 20th century. And of course, the trend reached its zenith in the World War II construction boom with pre-fab companies selling ready-to-go homebuilding components to builders. Reprinted courtesy of Ryan Gould, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved. Read the court decision
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Randy Maniloff Recognized by U.S. News – Best Lawyers® as a "Lawyer of the Year"

October 14, 2019 — Randy Maniloff - White and Williams LLP
Congratulations to Randy Maniloff, Counsel in the Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith Group, who was named the U.S. News – Best Lawyers® 2020 Insurance Law “Lawyer of the Year” in Philadelphia. Randy was recognized by his peers for his professional abilities in this area. "Lawyer of the Year" recognitions are awarded to individual lawyers with extremely high overall peer-feedback for a specific practice area and geographic location. Randy concentrates his practice in the representation of insurers in coverage disputes over primary and excess obligations under a host of policies, including general liability and various professional liability policies. He has significant experience in coverage matters involving additional insured and contractual indemnity issues. His practice also includes an academic side. He is an adjunct professor of Insurance at Temple University Beasley School of Law and the co-author of “General Liability Insurance Coverage – Key Issues in Every State” (4th edition), a nearly 1,000 page reference book that provides 50-state surveys on 20 critical liability coverage issues. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Randy Maniloff, White and Williams LLP
Mr. Maniloff may be contacted at maniloffr@whiteandwilliams.com

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Designing a Fair Standard of Care in Design Agreements

February 21, 2022 — ConsensusDocs
One of the concerns faced by construction companies is now design liability. Design liability concerns are not limited to just design-build projects. It is a hot-button issue for builders because the line between an architect’s responsibility to create sufficient design documents and a builder’s responsibility to execute the means, methods, and techniques is increasingly blurry. Problems arise when owners, design professionals, and builders point fingers, rather than truly collaborate, and communicate. While construction technologies used to assemble complex systems within buildings are increasingly sophisticated, such sophistication is unfortunately not matched with increased information sharing and effective communication. Another reason for growing design liability is unclear and inadequate specifications. Too often projects rush as well as shortchange design budgets. And some projects use hybrid prescriptive and performance specifications. This hybrid approach often confuses and obfuscates rather than clarifies design requirements. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of ConsensusDocs

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Wells Fargo Shuns Peers’ Settlement in U.S in Mortgage

May 13, 2014 — Andrew Zajac – Bloomberg
Following two years in which its big-bank peers paid almost $2 billion to resolve fraud accusations by the Federal Housing Administration, Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) has decided it isn’t giving up so easily. Wells Fargo was one of five banks that agreed in 2012 to a nationwide, $25 billion settlement with the Justice Department over mortgage wrongdoing that included botched foreclosures. The FHA then took additional action against four of the banks, including Wells Fargo, for related housing-crisis wrongdoing. Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. decided to settle those matters. San Francisco-based Wells Fargo, which argued the nationwide settlement should have blocked the new FHA claims against it, chose to fight. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Andrew Zajac, Bloomberg
Mr. Zajac may be contacted at azajac@bloomberg.net

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