House Construction Lawsuit

[Crispix]

What is the name of your state? CA

I bought a house almost 4 years ago - new construction. Nice house. Nice neighborhood. It even came with a 1-year warranty.

A law firm sent a letter several months ago soliciting clients for a lawsuit against the builder for "serious construction defects". It was one of those "let's gang up on the big company and sue them for whatever we can and let the lawyers make a bunch of money" dealies. It is not a class action.

A few weeks later I received a letter from the builder that said: "We're a substantial company, we stand behind our work. If you have any problems, we will take care of you, just let us know."

I don't have any problems with the house that I am aware of. I think what this law firm is doing is horrible and is one of the reasons housing and insurance are so expensive in the first place. I think the builder has been very good to us and is going above and beyond by offering to fix problems with the house even though the warranty expired more than 2 years ago.

Yesterday I received another solicitation from the law firm claiming that 66 of my neighbors have joined the lawsuit, that this firm has collected over $10M in the last two years from construction companies, and that we can get a "free home inspection" to see if we have anything we can sue about.

I'm sure a bunch more of my neighbors will join in after reading this last letter. I haven't talked to anyone who has joined -- my immediate neighbors haven't done anything . . . yet.

I think this whole thing stinks. They'll end up settling for some amount, the lawyers will get 40% plus "costs", my neighbors will receive a few bucks, and the ethical people like me get nothing.

So here's the question: am I out of my gourd? Is this just the American way? Do 66 other families know something I don't?

 

[racer72]

Have you talked to any of the 66 families? I would talk to as many as possible just to find out what specific problems they had or if this is just a witch hunt. The lawfirm handling the case should have no problem giving you a list of those 66 families. If they won't, something is fishy.

 

[Crispix]

I think witch hunt is the appropriate term. I've talked to the immediate neighbors that I know, and none of them have any problems with their houses and have ignored all the letters. There are at least 300 houses in the development.

There is a meeting being held at the local library in a couple weeks for everyone to meet with the lawyers.

 

[HomeGuru]

Check out www.hadd.com

 

[HomeGuru]

What is the name of your state? CA

I bought a house almost 4 years ago - new construction. Nice house. Nice neighborhood. It even came with a 1-year warranty.

**A: "new construction, nice house, nice neighborhood..." does not equate to properly built house with no building code violations, no defective building materials and no construction defects. Did you get a home inspection by a home inspector, architect or engineer? How can you be assured that the home was built in accordance with the approved plans and specifications and building material and product manufacturers installation specifications were followed?

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A law firm sent a letter several months ago soliciting clients for a lawsuit against the builder for "serious construction defects". It was one of those "let's gang up on the big company and sue them for whatever we can and let the lawyers make a bunch of money" dealies. It is not a class action.

**A: it will not cost you anything to inquire as to what the serious constructuion defects may be. Are these defects structural in nature? Is it a soil/foundation problem? Could it be discovered via non-destructive testing or only discoverable upon destructive testing? Patent vs. latent defects? Are there any inspection reports from consultants proving the defects? What does the municpal building department have to say about the defects?
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A few weeks later I received a letter from the builder that said: "We're a substantial company, we stand behind our work. If you have any problems, we will take care of you, just let us know."

**A: Yeah, I have heard that a thousand times before. Read the nightmares from real homeowners that bought homes from the top 10 NAHB nationally ranked builders in America. www.hadd.com
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I don't have any problems with the house that I am aware of.

**A: that's the problem; you are not aware of. So investigate further so that you will be aware. If your home has no defects after a complete and thorough inspection by a professional is completed, then fine. You would have no complaints and can stay out of the legal issues and tell the law firm, "thanks but no thanks".
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I think what this law firm is doing is horrible and is one of the reasons housing and insurance are so expensive in the first place. I think the builder has been very good to us and is going above and beyond by offering to fix problems with the house even though the warranty expired more than 2 years ago.

**A: there may be a hint of ambulance chasing but then again, what if the law firm's allegations are correct?
************
Yesterday I received another solicitation from the law firm claiming that 66 of my neighbors have joined the lawsuit, that this firm has collected over $10M in the last two years from construction companies, and that we can get a "free home inspection" to see if we have anything we can sue about.

**A: what part of free don't you understand? Tell then to conduct a free no obligation inspection but you must approve of the inspector (resume etc.) and will not sign anything giving then authorization to represent you.
**********
I think this whole thing stinks. They'll end up settling for some amount, the lawyers will get 40% plus "costs", my neighbors will receive a few bucks, and the ethical people like me get nothing.

**A: this is not about ethics but about facts. Until you fully investigate, you have no foundation to conclude that the law firm is doing something unethical.
*********
So here's the question: am I out of my gourd? Is this just the American way? Do 66 other families know something I don't?

**A: Here is the same response to all 3 of your questions; quite possibly.
Here is something else. Your state of CA is one of the top states with construction defects of new homes.
Also check out your builder to see if this builder has a history of construction defect claims made by homeowners.

 

[Boxcarbill]

What is the name of your state? CA

I bought a house almost 4 years ago - new construction. Nice house. Nice neighborhood. It even came with a 1-year warranty.

A law firm sent a letter several months ago soliciting clients for a lawsuit against the builder for "serious construction defects". It was one of those "let's gang up on the big company and sue them for whatever we can and let the lawyers make a bunch of money" dealies. It is not a class action.

A few weeks later I received a letter from the builder that said: "We're a substantial company, we stand behind our work. If you have any problems, we will take care of you, just let us know."

I don't have any problems with the house that I am aware of. I think what this law firm is doing is horrible and is one of the reasons housing and insurance are so expensive in the first place. I think the builder has been very good to us and is going above and beyond by offering to fix problems with the house even though the warranty expired more than 2 years ago.

Yesterday I received another solicitation from the law firm claiming that 66 of my neighbors have joined the lawsuit, that this firm has collected over $10M in the last two years from construction companies, and that we can get a "free home inspection" to see if we have anything we can sue about.

I'm sure a bunch more of my neighbors will join in after reading this last letter. I haven't talked to anyone who has joined -- my immediate neighbors haven't done anything . . . yet.

I think this whole thing stinks. They'll end up settling for some amount, the lawyers will get 40% plus "costs", my neighbors will receive a few bucks, and the ethical people like me get nothing.

So here's the question: am I out of my gourd? Is this just the American way? Do 66 other families know something I don't?

_________________________________________

My response:

Since you " think what this law firm is doing is horrible and is one of the reasons housing and insurance are so expensive in the first place" exactly what is that "the ethical people" like you want?