Homeowners’ Lawsuit Brings $5 Million
A group of Sherman Oaks homeowners who sued an Encino developer after their nearly new luxury condominiums and townhouses suffered roof leaks, burst pipes and sagging floors have won a $5-million settlement.
The agreement, which was finalized Tuesday, settles a $12-million lawsuit that the Chandler Park Village Home Owners Assn. brought nearly four years ago against E & E Development and Investment Corp., the company that built the 214-unit complex on Chandler Boulevard.
When the lawsuit was filed in August 1992, it bitterly divided residents. Some feared it would hurt property values if word of the then-4-year-old development’s shortcomings came out. Personal attacks were made against association President D. Stephen Jeffrey, whose credit report was anonymously circulated in the complex.
Jeffrey, who now lives in West Hills but still owns his Chandler Park Village home, said Tuesday that “the majority of people got what they wanted, which was enough money to fix things.” The carpeting in his own unit still gets wet whenever it rains hard, he said, but the $5 million should be enough to fix the worst of the construction problems.
Under the terms of the agreement, three insurance companies that provided the developer with liability coverage will pay $3 million toward the settlement. Numerous subcontractors that E & E hired to work on the project will provide the remaining $2 million, said Michael Dicks, the San Diego attorney who represented the homeowners.
In agreeing to the settlement, E & E, which has been in business in the San Fernando Valley for more than 30 years, did not admit to having performed a poor job on the development, where the two- and three-bedroom homes sold for $170,000 to $290,000. Attempts to reach the company for comment were not successful.
Dicks said the suit dragged on for so long because “the developer refused to accept responsibility from Day 1 to Day 900,” and because the courts were too crowded to hear the case. But it was scheduled to be heard before the end of the year, providing the impetus for a settlement now, he said.
