Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Developer to Pay Condo Owners $12 Million to Fix Leaks, Cracks : Santa Clarita: Residents of Canyon Oaks Condominiums win out-of-court settlement.

Long suffering owners of units at Canyon Oaks Condominiums have received a $12-million out-of-court settlement to their suit charging the condo developer used substandard construction techniques and materials.

American Beauty Homes built the 752-unit Canyon Country complex in the mid-1980s. The suit by condo owners was filed in 1990.

Originally known as American Beauty Condominiums, the units were sold by the developer for $59,000 to $79,000.

The suit alleged the condos leaked water through their roofs, windows and sliding glass doors into living areas and garages. It also claimed several exterior patios, decks and stucco areas had cracked.

“The thrust of the claim was for structural deficiencies and a failure to meet fire codes,” said Leslie Marks, attorney for the complex’s homeowners association.

The settlement was reached through a court-referred mediator, who held meetings with both sides over the past year.

Robin Ackerman, spokeswoman for American Beauty Homes, said the condominiums are well-constructed and the lawsuit’s claims false. The development firm, she said, agreed to the multimillion-dollar award as the quickest, most effective method of settling the issue.

“We’ve been building in the Santa Clarita Valley for more than 30 years and we build a quality home,” Ackerman said.

Property owners say they welcome the money, which the homeowners association will use to pay for remedial construction and to reimburse the costs of improvements that have already been made.

“I’m ecstatic,” said condo owner Steven Carter. “I think it’s wonderful.”

Carter purchased her Tyler Lane condominium in 1986. She said she soon discovered that her condo’s dryer duct simply dead-ended into the wall.

“I couldn’t figure out why it was taking eight hours to dry the same load of clothes,” Carter said. “I called (repairmen) out here because I thought there was something wrong with the machine.”

Carter praised the association and property management firm for quickly repairing the problems.

Many residents complained of water seeping into their homes because of leaky roofs and balconies built directly against the structures, allowing water to accumulate, said Kim Moore, property manager for Canyon Oaks.

“From Day 1, we noticed things,” Moore said. “We got a lot of calls.”

In addition to the repairs, the association plans to use the settlement money to install fire-breaking materials and increase the seismic stability of the condos, Moore said.

Julie Peck, president of the Canyon Oaks Homeowners Assn.’s five-member board, characterized the leaks and other problems as minor annoyances for most homeowners.

“It wasn’t like living in a dump,” said Peck, whose own condo had leaks. “We haven’t let homeowners live in broken-down places. We’ve fixed (problems) as they’ve appeared.”

The remedial construction is expected to begin in about three months, and take one year to 18 months to complete.

The lawsuit was to be reviewed by a judge March 27. It called for unspecified damages.

“We just wanted to be able to do the repairs we needed,” Peck said. “We weren’t out for blood.”