Rainwater on the outside of a home can be a blessing during the heat of a summer drought. But when that water gets inside—no matter the season—the damage can be devastating.
Residents of a condominium community experienced this disaster firsthand when a series of units across the neighborhood began struggling with water seeping from the ceilings and walls. The water ruined carpets and personal belongings, and it rotted away the underlying wood structures, causing mold to develop.
The homeowner’s association realized the damage was happening across many units. It wasn’t just a small problem—it was structure-wide. At the same time, they realized water bills across the neighborhood were increasing; the problem was both internal and external.
As the damage spread, the repair estimates started coming in. The destruction would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to fix. Water was penetrating everywhere and the damage was major, even though the residences were less than ten years old.
The residents and homeowner’s association knew they had to do something to fix the problem, and they knew they had to act quickly to save their investment.
The homeowner’s association, tasked with overall governance, protection, and advocacy for the homeowners, had its work cut out. It was clear that this relatively new property had defects stemming from shoddy construction. In addition to dealing with daily reports of damage, they had to figure out where to begin assessing the original construction process to figure out where they went wrong. They were overwhelmed, and they turned to us for help.
Helping the homeowner’s association make things right
After hearing their story, we knew we had to take the case, even though construction cases are often incredibly expensive to prepare for court. Hiring experts to assess the underlying structural defects, as well as reviewing the building process, could be a very expensive investment for the homeowner’s association.
Unlike a lot of other law firms, we were ready and willing to take the case on a contingency basis. This was particularly important because many of the residents in the condos were retirees living on a fixed income. Had we not taken the case on a contingency basis, the homeowner’s association would have passed those fees on to the residents in the form of increased assessments. Those retirees could have been forced to choose between paying for medication and paying these extra fees—we were able to prevent that scenario.
We knew the right construction experts that could assess the structural damage by tearing down walls to figure out the underlying issues. It was a huge project—and we were ready to help.
Shoddy construction, defect disaster
What we discovered was appalling. The construction company had failed to install moisture barriers between the exterior and interior walls, which would have stopped the rain seeping into people’s living rooms. Additionally, they had also failed to follow the manufacturer’s instructions on various materials used in the overall construction project.
But for us, the icing on the cake was this: the construction firm failed to hook up the lines that fed water to the entire community. Water was leaking out underground, wasting a valuable natural resource and costing thousands of dollars in utility bills.
Fixing a defect—and making a wrong right
The builder initially refused to assume responsibility for their mistakes. We battled with them while they denied any wrongdoing, blamed it on the construction materials themselves, and claimed they weren’t liable for any internal water damage to the condos.
Thankfully, by using an Ohio Supreme Court ruling, we were able to apply pressure on the builder’s insurance company to encourage the construction company to do the right thing. We had to do a lot of extra homework on this one, but it was worth it. The homeowner’s association walked away with a substantial settlement that completely covered the cost of repairs, and it felt great to know these families would get their homes back to normal.
Home is where the leakage isn’t
The thing that touched us the most about this case was that a lot of these residents had put their life savings into these places. Many were retirees or empty nesters, and they felt safe investing in brand-new homes in a lovely community run by a great homeowner’s association. Before that “new house smell” had even worn off, they were fighting off rainwater. Then they had to deal with excavating the water lines to repair them, tearing out walls and carpets to fix the damage, and many other inconveniences to alleviate each construction defect.
It was just the opposite of the low maintenance lifestyle they were looking for when they bought the condominiums in the first place!
Today things are back to normal. The dream that these families bought into is finally real. They’re living in lovely, maintenance-free homes, and we’re proud to have helped them attain their goals. As part of our normal pre-trial process, we visited these condos, walked the grounds, and met the homeowners. It’s a practice we enjoy, one that we think really connects us to our clients. Drive through the neighborhood now, and you’ll see it’s a pretty place and home to some good people who really deserve it.
*Names in this article have been changed to protect our client’s privacy.
The outcomes of any client’s case will depend on the particular legal and factual circumstances of the case.
