Construction Defect Lawsuits: has anyone ever taken part in one?

[mydogsarelazy]

Hi Piggs,

We own a KB Home and are generally quite satisfied with it. It was professionally inspected 5 years ago and no major defects were found. The builder corrected any and all minor problems that were found at that time. We are now outside the warranty period.

We have been receiving letters from a law firm in Santa Monica, Milstein, Adelman and Kreger, who are representing 70 KB homeowners in our area. Their offer is basically this: retain us, and we will inspect your home, and represent you vs KB to correct any defects that are found.

Looking around, we do have a few cracked tiles in the entryway and some driveway cracking… Maybe it is worth having these things looked at?

Does anyone have experience with this type of suit? With this firm? Would we be suckers to retain them, or are they reputable? Any possible downsides to retaining them?

Thanks for your help, JS

[UCGal]

Not sure about a lawsuit of that scope.

We’re in litigation with our former contractor for abandonment and some construction defects… but it is probably pointless since he’s broke. Our situation is quite different in that we hired the contractor directly and have clear documentation of things he did wrong (not to mention abandonment mid-project.)

Litigation is expensive and stressful. I don’t reccomend it over minor things.

[UCGal]

Not sure about a lawsuit of that scope.

We’re in litigation with our former contractor for abandonment and some construction defects… but it is probably pointless since he’s broke. Our situation is quite different in that we hired the contractor directly and have clear documentation of things he did wrong (not to mention abandonment mid-project.)

Litigation is expensive and stressful. I don’t reccomend it over minor things.

[UCGal]

Not sure about a lawsuit of that scope.

We’re in litigation with our former contractor for abandonment and some construction defects… but it is probably pointless since he’s broke. Our situation is quite different in that we hired the contractor directly and have clear documentation of things he did wrong (not to mention abandonment mid-project.)

Litigation is expensive and stressful. I don’t reccomend it over minor things.

[UCGal]

Not sure about a lawsuit of that scope.

We’re in litigation with our former contractor for abandonment and some construction defects… but it is probably pointless since he’s broke. Our situation is quite different in that we hired the contractor directly and have clear documentation of things he did wrong (not to mention abandonment mid-project.)

Litigation is expensive and stressful. I don’t reccomend it over minor things.

[UCGal]

Not sure about a lawsuit of that scope.

We’re in litigation with our former contractor for abandonment and some construction defects… but it is probably pointless since he’s broke. Our situation is quite different in that we hired the contractor directly and have clear documentation of things he did wrong (not to mention abandonment mid-project.)

Litigation is expensive and stressful. I don’t reccomend it over minor things.

[svelte]

We’ve done a construction lawsuit as you discussed, but not with that firm.

I talk about it some here:
http://piggington.com/builder_bankrupty_john_laing_homes

Whether you join or not is up to you. When the homeowners in our former development organized the original lawsuit, we did not join because our home was not showing signs of a defect.

Later on, the builder went BK and we did see a few signs of problems, so we joined a second lawsuit…since builder no longer existed, second lawsuit was against their insurers.

Two things come to mind that you should think about:
(1) Make sure that the paperwork they have you sign states that they take a percentage of the award and that you pay nothing out-of-pocket.

(2) Make sure you are aware that, technically, when you go to sell your home at some point in the future, you must disclose that you took part in a construction defect lawsuit on your home. It’s a part of full disclosure. That may or may not spook your buyers (it didn’t ours), but they will likely want to know how you reinvested the award fixing the defects.

It certainly doesn’t hurt to have the lawyer’s inspectors come out and give you their opinion on whether defects exist in your home. We did that, and then we joined the lawsuit.

Finally, be aware that it is likely the defendant’s inspectors will also likely want to inspect your house. I distinctly remember one afternoon where about six inspectors checked every square inch of my home for the insurers…crawling all over the roof and everything.

[svelte]

We’ve done a construction lawsuit as you discussed, but not with that firm.

I talk about it some here:
http://piggington.com/builder_bankrupty_john_laing_homes

Whether you join or not is up to you. When the homeowners in our former development organized the original lawsuit, we did not join because our home was not showing signs of a defect.

Later on, the builder went BK and we did see a few signs of problems, so we joined a second lawsuit…since builder no longer existed, second lawsuit was against their insurers.

Two things come to mind that you should think about:
(1) Make sure that the paperwork they have you sign states that they take a percentage of the award and that you pay nothing out-of-pocket.

(2) Make sure you are aware that, technically, when you go to sell your home at some point in the future, you must disclose that you took part in a construction defect lawsuit on your home. It’s a part of full disclosure. That may or may not spook your buyers (it didn’t ours), but they will likely want to know how you reinvested the award fixing the defects.

It certainly doesn’t hurt to have the lawyer’s inspectors come out and give you their opinion on whether defects exist in your home. We did that, and then we joined the lawsuit.

Finally, be aware that it is likely the defendant’s inspectors will also likely want to inspect your house. I distinctly remember one afternoon where about six inspectors checked every square inch of my home for the insurers…crawling all over the roof and everything.

[svelte]

We’ve done a construction lawsuit as you discussed, but not with that firm.

I talk about it some here:
http://piggington.com/builder_bankrupty_john_laing_homes

Whether you join or not is up to you. When the homeowners in our former development organized the original lawsuit, we did not join because our home was not showing signs of a defect.

Later on, the builder went BK and we did see a few signs of problems, so we joined a second lawsuit…since builder no longer existed, second lawsuit was against their insurers.

Two things come to mind that you should think about:
(1) Make sure that the paperwork they have you sign states that they take a percentage of the award and that you pay nothing out-of-pocket.

(2) Make sure you are aware that, technically, when you go to sell your home at some point in the future, you must disclose that you took part in a construction defect lawsuit on your home. It’s a part of full disclosure. That may or may not spook your buyers (it didn’t ours), but they will likely want to know how you reinvested the award fixing the defects.

It certainly doesn’t hurt to have the lawyer’s inspectors come out and give you their opinion on whether defects exist in your home. We did that, and then we joined the lawsuit.

Finally, be aware that it is likely the defendant’s inspectors will also likely want to inspect your house. I distinctly remember one afternoon where about six inspectors checked every square inch of my home for the insurers…crawling all over the roof and everything.

[svelte]

We’ve done a construction lawsuit as you discussed, but not with that firm.

I talk about it some here:
http://piggington.com/builder_bankrupty_john_laing_homes

Whether you join or not is up to you. When the homeowners in our former development organized the original lawsuit, we did not join because our home was not showing signs of a defect.

Later on, the builder went BK and we did see a few signs of problems, so we joined a second lawsuit…since builder no longer existed, second lawsuit was against their insurers.

Two things come to mind that you should think about:
(1) Make sure that the paperwork they have you sign states that they take a percentage of the award and that you pay nothing out-of-pocket.

(2) Make sure you are aware that, technically, when you go to sell your home at some point in the future, you must disclose that you took part in a construction defect lawsuit on your home. It’s a part of full disclosure. That may or may not spook your buyers (it didn’t ours), but they will likely want to know how you reinvested the award fixing the defects.

It certainly doesn’t hurt to have the lawyer’s inspectors come out and give you their opinion on whether defects exist in your home. We did that, and then we joined the lawsuit.

Finally, be aware that it is likely the defendant’s inspectors will also likely want to inspect your house. I distinctly remember one afternoon where about six inspectors checked every square inch of my home for the insurers…crawling all over the roof and everything.

[svelte]

We’ve done a construction lawsuit as you discussed, but not with that firm.

I talk about it some here:
http://piggington.com/builder_bankrupty_john_laing_homes

Whether you join or not is up to you. When the homeowners in our former development organized the original lawsuit, we did not join because our home was not showing signs of a defect.

Later on, the builder went BK and we did see a few signs of problems, so we joined a second lawsuit…since builder no longer existed, second lawsuit was against their insurers.

Two things come to mind that you should think about:
(1) Make sure that the paperwork they have you sign states that they take a percentage of the award and that you pay nothing out-of-pocket.

(2) Make sure you are aware that, technically, when you go to sell your home at some point in the future, you must disclose that you took part in a construction defect lawsuit on your home. It’s a part of full disclosure. That may or may not spook your buyers (it didn’t ours), but they will likely want to know how you reinvested the award fixing the defects.

It certainly doesn’t hurt to have the lawyer’s inspectors come out and give you their opinion on whether defects exist in your home. We did that, and then we joined the lawsuit.

Finally, be aware that it is likely the defendant’s inspectors will also likely want to inspect your house. I distinctly remember one afternoon where about six inspectors checked every square inch of my home for the insurers…crawling all over the roof and everything.

[Hobie]

Retain first, then inspect. Hmm. Sounds like they are fishing.

If they were aware of any true defect(s) then I would think they would lead off with facts.

Without some glaring problems created by KB my concern is the firm is trying for a quick settlement, whereas they make there fees and a cut on the inspectors all of whom get paid before you will get anything.

Red flag for me.

[Hobie]

Retain first, then inspect. Hmm. Sounds like they are fishing.

If they were aware of any true defect(s) then I would think they would lead off with facts.

Without some glaring problems created by KB my concern is the firm is trying for a quick settlement, whereas they make there fees and a cut on the inspectors all of whom get paid before you will get anything.

Red flag for me.

[Hobie]

Retain first, then inspect. Hmm. Sounds like they are fishing.

If they were aware of any true defect(s) then I would think they would lead off with facts.

Without some glaring problems created by KB my concern is the firm is trying for a quick settlement, whereas they make there fees and a cut on the inspectors all of whom get paid before you will get anything.

Red flag for me.

[Hobie]

Retain first, then inspect. Hmm. Sounds like they are fishing.

If they were aware of any true defect(s) then I would think they would lead off with facts.

Without some glaring problems created by KB my concern is the firm is trying for a quick settlement, whereas they make there fees and a cut on the inspectors all of whom get paid before you will get anything.

Red flag for me.

[Author]

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