Seattle Washington Building Expert Directory

Wood Wizardry in Oregon: Innovation Raises the Roof for PDX Terminal

April 15, 2024 — Aileen Cho - Engineering News-Record
Drones, self-propelled modular transporters and a curtain wall that really does hang off the roof like a curtain are all notable technologies that made installing an 18-million-lb timber roof possible at Portland International Airport. Of equal weight is the emphasis on full-scale sourcing of the timber and representing the Pacific Northwest’s residents, history and geography. Reprinted courtesy of Aileen Cho, Engineering News-Record Ms. Cho may be contacted at choa@enr.com Read the full story... Read the court decision
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Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Calls for CFPB Investigation into Tenant Screening Businesses

December 13, 2021 — Brian H. Montgomery - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law Blog
Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, has written to newly confirmed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Rohit Chopra, asking him to review companies in the tenant screening industry for possible Fair Credit Reporting Act violations and other violations of U.S. laws. The CFPB, for its part, has already published a bulletin alerting Consumer Reporting Agencies (CRAs) and other furnishers of consumer information that, as federal, state and local pandemic-related housing protections expire, the Bureau will be giving greater enforcement focus to these businesses’ compliance with accuracy and dispute obligations under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and Regulation V. While it is still unclear whether Director Chopra will direct the Bureau to investigate specific businesses flagged by Chairman Brown, the tenant screening industry will likely face increased scrutiny in the coming months, which may impact their service offerings and cause interruptions for landlords relying on these businesses and services. There are approximately 2,000 tenant screening companies across the United States. These companies are used by landlords to better identify and perform background checks on prospective tenants. These reports typically provide a prospective tenant’s rental and eviction histories, credit score, debt-to-income ratio, and outstanding credit obligations, among other financial metrics. The reports also usually include a criminal background check, including searches of sex offender registries and other public records searches. Many tenant screening companies then use this information to provide an estimate of the risk that each tenant presents, calculated through proprietary algorithmic formulas. These reports are usually available to landlords at a cost ranging from approximately $5 to $55 per report, usually passed through to the prospective tenant through application fees. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Brian H. Montgomery, Pillsbury
Mr. Montgomery may be contacted at brian.montgomery@pillsburylaw.com

General Partner Is Not Additional Insured For Construction Defect Claim

August 26, 2015 — Tred R. Eyerly – Insurance Law Hawaii
The court determined that the project owner's general partner was not an additional insured entitled to a defense and indemnity against claims for construction defects. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co. v,. Cypress Fairway Condo. Ass'n, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 94012 (M.D. Fla. July 20, 2015). Construction of the Cypress Fairway Condominium project took place in 1999 and 2000. Cypress Fairway Ltd. ("Cypress") was the owner and Vineland Partners , LLC ("Vineland") was its general partner. The general contractor was Winter Park Construction Company ("WPC"). Water intrusion and property damage occurred, but it was unclear when or whether the damage was known. Cypress' expert indicated that the damage began shortly after the end of construction. In 2004, the complex was sold to Cypress Madison Ownership Company. In 2010, the Cypress Fairway Condominium Association sued Cypress and Vineland. Count V of the underlying complaint asserted there were construction defects that Cypress and Vineland were responsible for when they owned and managed the project. Count VI alleged that Cypress and Vineland negligently supplied information which the Association relied on for the purchase of the condominiums. 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

Insurance Company’s Reservation of Rights Letter Negates its Interest in the Litigation

November 12, 2019 — Frank Ingham - Colorado Construction Litigation
The Colorado Court of Appeals held that an insurance company, which issues a reservation of rights letter to its insured, loses its interest in the litigation, pursuant to C.R.C.P. 24(a)(2), when the insured settles the claims and assigns the bad faith action against the insurance company to the plaintiff. Bolt Factory Lofts Owners Association, Inc. v. Auto-Owners Insurance Company, 2019WL 3483901(Colo. App. 2019). In a 2016 lawsuit in Denver District Court, 2016CV3360, the Bolt Factory Loft Owners Association, Inc. (“Association”) asserted construction defect claims against six contractors. Two of those contractors then asserted claims against other subcontractors, including Sierra Glass Co., Inc. (“Sierra Glass”). After multiple settlements, the only remaining claims were those the Association, as assignee of the two contractors, asserted against Sierra Glass. Auto-Owners Insurance Company (“AOIC”) issued policies to Sierra Glass and defended it under a reservation of rights. The policy afforded AOIC the right to defend Sierra Glass, and it required Sierra Glass to cooperate in the defense of the legal action. The Association presented a settlement demand of $1.9 million to Sierra Glass, which AOIC refused to pay. To protect itself from an excess judgment that AOIC might not have paid, Sierra Glass entered into an agreement with the Association whereby Sierra Glass would refrain from offering a defense at trial and assign its bad faith claim against AOIC to the Association in exchange for the Association’s promise that it would not pursue recovery against Sierra Glass of any judgment entered against it at trial. Such agreements, known as Bashor or Nunn Agreements, are allowed in Colorado. Nunn v. Mid-Century Insurance Co., 244 P.3d 116 (Colo. 2010). Therefore, Sierra Glass was entitled to protect itself in the face of AOIC’s potential denial of coverage and refusal to settle. Bolt Factory Lofts, at ¶ 15. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Frank Ingham, Higgins, Hopkins, McLain & Roswell, LLC
Mr. Ingham may be contacted at ingham@hhmrlaw.com

It’s Not Just the Millennium Tower That’s Sinking in San Francisco

December 06, 2021 — Beverley BevenFlorez – CDJ Staff
Much has been reported over the years regarding the sinking Millennium Tower in San Francisco, but now new reports are emerging regarding sinking sidewalks in the Mission Bay neighborhood and images from space demonstrating that the entire Downtown San Francisco area may also be sinking. According to CBS SF BayArea, some sidewalks in Mission Bay have sunk “as much as a foot and more in some spots.” The neighborhood is built upon a landfill, which requires the buildings to be anchored to bedrock—the streets and sidewalks, however, are the property owners’ responsibility. Engineers for the UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay “took a proactive approach.” CBS SF BayArea alleges, however, that many surrounding condo developers did not. SFGate reported that the sidewalk issue may be difficult to solve “as any fixes to the surface only serve to increase the weight of the pavement, speeding its descent into the landfill.” It may not just be sidewalks and streets that are sinking. U.S Geological Survey research geophysicist Tom Parsons “says earth-based and space-based observations confirm the entire downtown area around it is sinking as well.” According to the NBC Bay Area story, Parsons “estimated settlement of three inches across the entire Bay Area.” The Millennium Tower weighs an estimated 686 million pounds, making it the third heaviest building in San Francisco. However, it is the only one that’s significantly leaning. San Francisco building officials told NBC Bay Area that there are plans in place “to shore up the seawall that protects the Embarcadero.” Read the full story at CBS SF BayArea... Read the full story at SFGate... Read the full story at NBC Bay Area... Read the court decision
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Environmental Law Violations: When you Should Hire a Lawyer

October 09, 2018 — Bremer Whyte Brown & O’Meara
Environmental law violations can have an enormous impact on your ongoing profitability. Environmental law is complicated and multifaceted, with laws at the local, state, and federal level often overlapping. In this article, we’ll discuss environmental law violations in the context of defending against an environmental law claim. In doing so, we’ll take a brief look at what environmental law is, and explore some environmental law violations cases. This should shed some light on the complex nature of environmental law litigation, and highlight the importance of securing legal representation with the scope and breadth of practice to wade into an environmental law violation case. What is Environmental Law? Before diving into specific environmental law violation cases, it is helpful to first provide a basic outline of what environmental law is and what different levels of environmental law exist in the United States. The most well-known environmental law exists at the federal level and is enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA is responsible for enforcing directives that have been set forth by Congress over time. These include a variety of Acts, including the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Bremer Whyte Brown & O’Meara

Mortenson Subcontractor Fires Worker Over Meta Data Center Noose

April 19, 2022 — James Leggate - Engineering News-Record
A worker on a data center project for Facebook parent company Meta in Utah was fired after admitting to tying a noose at the worksite where racist graffiti had also been found months earlier. Reprinted courtesy of James Leggate, Engineering News-Record Mr. Leggate may be contacted at leggatej@enr.com Read the full story... Read the court decision
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Efficient Proximate Cause Doctrine Bars Coverage for Collapse of Building

July 31, 2013 — Tred Eyerly, Insurance Law Hawaii
The court rejected the insured's argument that there was coverage for the collapse of a building caused by water leakage (a covered peril) and landslide (an uncovered peril). Stor/Gard, Inc. v. Strathmore Ins. Co., 2013 U.S. LEXIS App. 11015 (1st Cir. May 31, 2013). A severe rain storm caused soil to slide down a hill and over a retaining wall, thereby damaging a building owned by the insured. Investigators hired by Strathmore Insurance Company determined that rain had soaked into the soil, causing the landslide. Although the investigators found some water leakage, they determined the leakage was not a cause or contributing factor, and was negligible compared to the rain amount. The insured's policy with Strathmore was an all-risk policy. Loss caused by a landslide was excluded. Further, loss caused by collapse was excluded from coverage except as set forth in the policy's "additional coverage for collapse" section. This section provided coverage for a collapse caused by water damage or a leakage of water. Another exclusion barred coverage for loss caused by weather conditions. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Tred Eyerly
Tred Eyerly can be contacted at te@hawaiilawyer.com

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