Court rules on construction defect lawsuit

By Cy Ryan

Monday, Sept. 29, 2008 | 5:49 p.m.

CARSON CITY – An estimated 700 owners of homes in the Sun City Summerlin Community in Las Vegas can join in a construction defect suit, the Nevada Supreme Court has ruled.

They are part of a group of 1,200 owners that have sued on grounds effects exist in the exterior stucco of their residences.

The developers, including Del Webb Communities, Inc., maintained the 700 could not be part of the suit because they were not the original owners of the property.

But the court, in a unanimous opinion written by Justice Jim Hardesty, said the interpretation by the developers leads to “unreasonable results.”

The 1,200 owners sued the Webb company; Nevada State Plastering, MS Concrete Co., Pratte Development Co., and Dean Roofing Inc. They maintained that the 700 owners were not the original purchasers and were not entitled to join in the suit.

But Hardesty wrote that “the apparent fact that many homeowners in the underlying constructional defect action are not the original owners of their homes does not preclude those homeowners from obtaining the remedies available under the law for any constructional defects present in their homes.”

The court upheld the decision of District Judge Allan Earl in ruling the 700 homeowners could be part of the suit that will now return to district court for further proceedings.

Del Webb has sued the various subcontractors who worked at the development.