Jury Rejects Couple’s Quake-Repair Suit

A jury in Van Nuys unanimously found that the Warner Village Homeowners Assn. did its duty when it negotiated to repair the Woodland Hills complex after the Northridge earthquake, attorneys for the association said Thursday.

The association prevailed Monday in a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court by homeowners Francis and Terry Frizzell.

The suit alleged that the group did not supervise adequately the construction and did not negotiate for the best possible settlement with its insurance company to pay for quake damage and retrofitting.

The work on the common areas of Warner Village I and II, a townhouse complex bordering Warner Park, was completed this year.

Extensive repairs took up nearly all of the more than $13 million the association received from its insurance company, said John MacDowell, defense counsel for the association.

But, he said, the settlement with State Farm Insurance Co. had not been reached by the time the suit was filed in August 1995.

“They felt the association hadn’t negotiated enough of a settlement to fix all that needed to be fixed,” MacDowell said. “They jumped the gun in a serious way. The association continued to negotiate and [the association] received ample monies to repair the structure and bring it up to better condition than it was before the earthquake.”

But Encino attorney Mark Brifman, who represented the Frizzells, said the suit was not about the money gained or spent, but about fixing the complex correctly.

“If it’s fixed right, we don’t care how much money they spent to do it,” he said.

Brifman said Kenco Construction, the contractor, admitted in testimony that there are problems with the repairs, including leaks in the underground utility room and garage, as well as in an atrium.

“The contractor said they’d fix this all and the jury apparently believed them,” Brifman said. “We’ll have to wait and see.”