Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Builders hit with defect suits

Three major Las Vegas-area home builders have been hit with four construction defect lawsuits in recent weeks.

The unrelated suits accuse Del Webb Communities Inc., Pulte Home Corp. and American West Homes Inc. of being responsible for construction defects in residential developments in Henderson and Las Vegas.

The suits against Del Webb and Pulte were filed by the Las Vegas law firm of Angius & Terry LLP, and despite the timing, attorney Edward Song said the flurry of activity has nothing to do with a new state law aimed at controlling such defect suits. That law goes into effect Aug. 1.

"Industrywide, perhaps the law is affecting the number of suits," Song said. "We have been retained on these cases since last year. ... This is a logical progression."

The construction defect law, passed in the recent legislative session, requires homeowners to give builders the opportunity to fix defects before a suit can be filed.

The largest of the complaints is a proposed class-action lawsuit representing more than 2,100 homeowners in the Sun City MacDonald Ranch development filed last week in District Court against Del Webb Communities Inc.

The suit claims defects in plumbing, roofing, retaining walls and concrete slabs. It names six homeowners and seeks class-action status for the balance of the 2,191 homeowners in the Henderson community.

Song estimated the damages involved in the alleged defects to be about $30,000 per home. If all homeowners in the community joined the complaint, the value of the lawsuit would approach $66 million.

Allison Copening, a spokeswoman for Del Webb and Pulte Homes in Las Vegas operations, said Tuesday evening that the company was unaware of the lawsuit or the defect claims of the six named homeowners.

"We weren't familiar with this particular lawsuit," she said. "And this is the first we have heard of these problems from these homeowners. Unfortunately, now (that a suit has been filed) we can no longer become involved in the situation, and we can't comment."

Copening said the complaints will now be the responsibility of attorneys and insurance companies.

Song's firm last week also filed a suit against Del Webb Communities seeking class action status for more than 300 duplex owners in Sun City MacDonald Ranch homeowners association.

An unrelated class-action lawsuit against Pulte alleges defects in the 372-unit Stone Ridge condominium project in Las Vegas. In the suit, Angius & Terry represent the Stone Ridge Condominium Association.

In addition to claiming defects in the condominium units, the suit also claims that the developer mismanaged the homeowners' association before turning it over to property owners upon the sale of 75 percent of the community's units.

The suit claims the developer had not adequately funded the association and did not properly seek defect repairs when it was in control of the association.

Song's firm also filed the Pulte lawsuit. He maintained that the homeowners are not seeking financial gain in any of the suits.

"We are not looking for money," he said. "We are looking for repairs."

Copening said the company is aware of the Stone Ridge suit and hopes to reach a settlement soon.

Pulte is the parent company of Del Webb, having acquired Del Webb in 2001.

Also unrelated, 10 residents of the Saddleback Development in Las Vegas have filed a defect suit against American West Homes.

The complaint alleges that the homes suffer from a long list of problems, including wall movement, foundation defects and faulty plumbing and electrical systems.

The suit claims American West "engaged in a calculated course of conduct to reduce the cost of development by the use of substandard, deficient and inadequate design and construction techniques and materials."

Leslie Bauscher, vice president of American West Homes, said the company was unaware of the lawsuit or any issues with homeowners in Saddleback.

"We are very, very aggressive in our repairs," she said. "It is extremely detrimental to our reputation to have to deal with the intrusion of lawyers in dealing with homeowners."

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