Builders Must Pay to Shore Up Homes

Six homeowners living in a posh section of San Clemente will receive between $300,000 and $500,000 each to shore up their sagging homes.

The ocean-view houses, built on filled land on a steep bluff, have developed cracked walls and foundations. Superior Court Judge W.F. Rylaarsdam ordered builder Stein-Brief Development Co. in Dana Point, Union Federal Bank in San Clemente and six other defendants to pay a total of $2.29 million to the homeowners.

All but one of the owners are still living in the houses, said their attorney, Thomas Miller. The homeowners will use the money, he said, to drive pilings into the bedrock to stabilize the houses.

The judge refused to award compensation for emotional suffering in the case, which dates back to 1987. If flawless, the houses in the Palacio del Mar section of San Clemente would be worth between $450,000 and $550,000, Miller said.