Pressing Agoura Hills Claims : Owners of Condos Hire Belli

Agoura Hills condominium owners who say they were victimized by shoddy construction have hired renowned lawyer Melvin Belli’s firm to press a $31.5-million claim against builders of their 27-unit town house complex.

Disclosure of the move came Tuesday as the controversy over Westlake Villas widened to include these developments:

The condominium’s 19 families said they had been notified that their fire, earthquake and general liability insurance coverage had been canceled by companies upset over the substandard construction of the units.

Los Angeles County Supervisors voted to broaden their own investigation of the construction work and call in new state agencies for the probe.

Real estate agents said publicity over the two-story condominium units’ leaks, cracks and sinking walls has not frightened away potential buyers interested in fixer-upper “bargains.”

The new developments set the stage for renewed talks next Tuesday among homeowners, builders, architects and the San Diego developer whose company built the $1.3-million project at 5291 Colodny Drive three years ago. A retired San Diego County superior court judge will referee an out-of-court settlement conference over a 1983 lawsuit filed by developer Hilbert Chu against the contractors and subcontractors.

The involvement of Belli’s firm in the case signals a new, tough stance by homeowners, who claim they have been forced to prop up one town house wall with two-by-fours to prevent it from collapsing.

Arnold W. Gross, managing attorney for Belli’s Beverly Hills firm of Belli and Sabih, said a settlement of “more than a million dollars” will be sought for each of the nine Westlake Villas families that have hired his firm.

Homeowners said Gross has planned claims of $3.5 million each. “With the actual and punitive damages these people have suffered, $3.5 million would not be out of line,” Gross said.

Homeowner Diana Shulman said residents contacted the flamboyant Belli “as a joke” several months ago. His office took interest in the Agoura Hills case after a mid-December Los Angeles County investigation confirmed the shoddy workmanship, Shulman said.

In a Dec. 21 report unprecedented in its harsh tone, County Engineer Stephen J. Koonce blamed a “complete breakdown” of county safeguards and deliberate shortcuts by builders for the condominium problems.

Shallow foundations, thinly applied stucco and poorly draining roofs and ground areas resulted from “the contractor’s obvious shortcutting of every phase of construction,” adding up to what Koonce said is a tragedy for the homeowners. He ordered disciplinary probation for a county building and safety inspector who was found remiss in approving the work.

But a spokesman for 5th District County Supervisor Michael Antonovich said the supervisor has remained dissatisfied by the report.

Antonovich pressed for the expanded investigation that prompted the board’s unanimous adoption Tuesday of a resolution calling for a new probe by the county counsel’s office, the Board of Public Works and a county land development coordinating committee.

Supervisors also asked for action against the Westlake Villas builders by the Contractors State Licensing Board, the state’s Board of Architectural Examiners and the state Departments of Real Estate and Banking.

In the meantime, Westlake Villas’ residents expressed apprehension over the cancellation of their insurance policies.

Brokerage firms in Los Angeles and Westlake Village that have handled the coverage said that the earthquake insurance was terminated Monday and that all other coverage will cease Jan. 18. Officials of both companies cited the substandard construction as the reason for the cancellation.

Shulman said homeowners had contacted 19 other insurance companies, “including Lloyd’s of London,” but have been unable thus far to gain replacement coverage.

The construction problems have not scared off potential buyers, however, Woodland Hills real estate agent Norman Cox said Tuesday.

Cox said two potential town house buyers asked Monday to be shown the Agoura Hills complex, even though he spent 20 minutes explaining the status of the project.

“I explained the whole problem, lock stock and barrel, to them. If people want to look, you can’t stop them,” Cox said.