Home Buyers Prevail in Suit
The new million-dollar homes in coastal Huntington Beach offered gated serenity, spacious living spaces and bright, oversized windows that let in the ocean breeze.
But home buyers in the tony Huntington Place development claim their Mediterranean-style dream houses have become construction nightmares.
The windows were so poorly installed and constructed that they permanently fogged up and obscured the view, residents say. The walls cracked and grew stained from water damage, and dry rot lurked behind wallpaper and paint. Thousands of missing clamps and beam connectors exposed them to earthquake dangers, they contend.
On Wednesday, an Orange County jury awarded residents $1 million -- the latest piece of settlements and judgments they’ve received over the last four years that total $4 million.
But the group of 123 homeowners said the money will cover only half of the estimated cost of repairs. Lawyers representing the group will ask Orange County Superior Court Judge Raymond Ikola next month to increase the award.
“It doesn’t make you feel too good,” said John Wilbert, a 66-year-old retiree who moved into the development with his wife, now deceased, 12 years ago. “When you consider all the people involved, a million dollars is not that much today.”
Wilbert said the first sign of trouble came when the clear windows in his home grew gradually more clouded several years after he bought the house. “It’s kind of embarrassing. You don’t want people to see your windows because they’ll think they’re dirty.”
Then, more serious problems developed, such as water damage to walls that needed to be replaced.
For Wilbert and others, the deterioration came as a shock because they paid a premium for what they thought was going to be top-level craftsmanship.
The lawsuit, which was argued at trial for 14 weeks, named the window manufacturer, Weather Shield, of Wisconsin, and a defunct subcontractor, Darro the Framing Company, as defendants.
Homeowners charged that the window company improperly manufactured its double-pane windows, leaving them vulnerable to moisture damage and fogging. The jury, however, did not award damages for the fogged windows, and limited damages to the work of the building framers.
Attorney Clayton Anderson told jurors that to cut expenses, framers skimped on materials. Specifically, Anderson said the company left out thousands of metal clips that are used to join wooden walls to roofs and foundations. The contractor also failed to install critical stabilizing straps and wall supports and neglected to install flashing, or water barriers, on the bottoms of window sills.
“They cut corners and made mistakes along the way,” said the plaintiff’s co-counsel, Thomas Miller.
Lawyers for the window manufacturing firm and the framer did not comment on the verdict, reached Monday.
Many of the residents are either retirees or nearing retirement and had purchased the homes after trading up from smaller homes purchased years ago.
“This home was a step up for us and it was a stretch to buy here,” said Dave McNeely, 53. McNeely said he and his wife tried to hide cracked walls, stains and fogged windows with curtains. “I didn’t want anyone to think we didn’t take care of our property.”
Initially, residents named the developer, J.M. Peters Development, as a defendant in the suit. The developer, however, settled with the group, along with other contractors, and ultimately joined the homeowners in the suit against the framer and window manufacturer.
