EIFS is a synthetic building cladding material introduced to New Jersey in the early 1980s. It was designed to mimic the look of real stucco, yet be easier and cheaper for homebuilders to install. Unfortunately, EIFS has also brought with it a host of shortcomings, notably drainage and moisture intrusion problems on wood-frame residential construction that began to emerge in 1995. As these barrier EIFS systems began to fail, many families discovered extensive rotting around windows, doors and other external frame penetrations. Worse, others found substantial internal frame rotting and damage to their homes. Still others reported pest infestation and even extensive mold growth. That situation would be bad enough if it were a surprise. But, it wasn't.

In fact, they knew all along...

Construction Law Updates

  • Nevada Supreme Court Denies Builder's Request in "Stucco Case" Last Thursday the Nevada Supreme Court denied attempts from Del Webb (a national builder of active adult communities) and their contractors seeking to limit the number of homeowners within a community from pursuing construction defect claims. The court stated that subsequent buyers of a home (in addition to the original owners) which had been deemed defective have the right to sue under the Nevada State defect law. ....
  • What every builder should know about the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act Every builder operating in New Jersey is most likely aware that our state has plaintiff-friendly laws in the context of construction defect litigation. Even so, the gravity of claims made against builders for alleged defects typically has a direct correlation to relatively known and controllable factors, i.e. their contract performance and quality of product. However, there is another category of claims being made with increasing success in defect cases made under New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act (CFA). ....
  • Claims may exist under Consumer Fraud Act whether or not direct contact occurred between consumer and violator of Act Judge Louis Locascio of the New Jersey Superior Court recently ruled in the matter of Matera et. al. v. M.G.C.C. Group, Inc. et. al., Docket No. L-1812-04, that a cause of action under New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act exists where there is no direct contact between the parties but there is a connection between the defendants’ “alleged violation of the Consumer Fraud Act and plaintiff’s ascertainable loss.” ....
  • Municipalities Cannot Require Builders to Provide Common Open Spaces The New Jersey Appellate Division ruled this month in two companion cases, New Jersey Shore Builders Association v. Township of Jackson, A-5805-06 (June 23, 2008) and Builders’ League of South Jersey v. Egg Harbor Township, A-1563-07 (June 23, 2008), that municipalities cannot require as a condition of approval that builders and developers provide on-site recreation areas or facilities, or common open space, outside the context of planned unit developments. ....
  • Homeowner's Association Standing To Assert Without Joining the Homeowners Donald B. Brenner, Shareholder and Chair of Stark & Stark's Construction Litigation group has authored the article Homeowner's Association Standing To Assert Without Joining the Homeowners for the March 24, 2008 edition of the New Jersey Law Journal. ....
  • $5 Million Verdict In Favor Of New Jersey Residential High-Rise Building On March 11, 2008, in the matter of Camelot Condominium Association, Inc v. Dryvit Systems, Inc., pending before the Superior Court of New jersey, Docket No. BER-L-012457-04, a jury entered a verdict in favor of the Plaintiff and against Dryvit... ....
  • Condo Association Equitably Estopped from Consumer Fraud Act Relief When Its Conduct Resulted in the Violation After a condominium association president declined a contractor’s request to execute a written change order and directed the contractor to proceed with the additional work, the association was barred from seeking relief under the Consumer Fraud Act (“CFA”) (N.J.S.A. 56:8-1 to -167) provisions requiring that all modifications to contracts for home improvements be in writing. B & H Securities, Inc., v. CKC Condominium Ass’n, Inc., 2008 WL 508082 (App. Div., February 27, 2008). ....
  • Property Owner Did Not Waive Arbitration Clause by Participating in Lawsuit In an unpublished case, the Appellate Division recently affirmed the trial court’s decision that defendant property owner did not waive the arbitration clause of its AIA construction contract with plaintiff construction company by participating in plaintiff lawsuit for a year before invoking the arbitration clause. ....
  • Consumers Cannot Waive Regulatory Requirement for Written Home Improvement Contracts The Appellate Division recently denied a landscaping contractor’s suit to collect amounts due for extra work in addition to that called for in his contract for complete landscaping of the defendants’ home. Online Contracting, Inc. v. Tripucka, No. A-2622-06 (App.... ....
  • Gehry - Construction Defects are Inevitable World famous architect Frank Gehry, and his firm Gehry Partners is a defendant in a recent lawsuit brought by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology alleging design and construction defects in a $300 Million building on the Cambridge, Massachusetts campus. ....