How Can We Help?
Stark & Stark is a 70-year old Princeton, NJ law firm and one of the largest in the state. We have approximately 100 attorneys and over 200 support staff. The Construction Litigation Group of Stark & Stark has substantial experience in handling litigation involving EIFS.
Stark & Stark has a network of highly-qualified EIFS inspectors, engineers, architects and contractors who can help you inspect and remediate EIFS-related problems. The Firm also has relationships with nationally prominent experts who assist Stark & Stark focusing on, mediating and trying EIFS cases.
We have successfully represented hundreds of owners of single-family homes and condominium units. We will even, in some circumstances, accept EIFS cases on a modified or straight contingent fee basis.
Special Section: "Class Inaction"
So, what should you do? One option - class action lawsuits - can sometimes help groups of plaintiffs to get compensation from a larger and better financed defendant. Perhaps you've heard, or will hear, about class action lawsuits filed against EIFS manufacturers in North Carolina. You may be thinking about joining one of these groups. But before you do, there is much to consider.
Find out how we can help you plan your course of action.
When is a Win Not a Win?
There is only one class action we know of that has been successfully settled. The United States District Court in North Carolina approved a settlement in which the EIFS manufacturers are paying $6.00 per square foot of EIFS to the injured homeowners. Thus, if a typical homeowner has a home with 3,000 square feet of EIFS, the homeowner would recover $18,000 under this settlement. This process took several years to conclude. Worse, that "award" is not even one-half the cost of replacing 3,000 square feet of EIFS. Therefore, the homeowner will either have to make up the difference out of his or her own pocket, or file a separate lawsuit - and endure another 2-3 years of litigation - against other parties to recover the balance. Obviously, this is not a particularly favorable outcome.
Find out how we can help you plan your course of action.
When is a Class Not A Class?
There are other problems with class action suits. Many EIFS class actions have had their classes de-certified. Why? For a class action to be certified, the court must find that there is a high degree of "commonality" among the claims. Many EIFS manufacturers have successfully fought class certification because the thousands of homeowners in the class had their homes built by different builders. Each builder used different subcontractors and different installation techniques. Some homes were designed by architects and some were not. In addition, different class members were told different things about EIFS by their builders or Realtors. Furthermore, levels of damage varied widely. Some homes had catastrophic water damage, some had moderate water damage and some had no water damage at all. Different homes located in different places suffered different damages or different degrees of diminution in value. The result: many disappointed consumers who got little or no relief through these class action suits.
