Jury awards $4.4 million to 30 families who claimed home builder built defective "dream homes"
A Sacramento county jury awarded $4.4 million to 30 families who bought homes from Sunland Communities of Northern California in Folsom's Lexington Hills between 1989 and 1991.
In the state Superior Court ruling of Feb. 9, the jury awarded $3.9 million in compensatory damages and punitive damages of $500,000.
Homeowners sued Sunland in October 1992 claiming their homes were markedly different than the model homes shown to potential buyers. They also said that Sunland failed to follow building plans approved by the city of Folsom and said the residences were built with inadequate "shear" (protection against wind and seismic events), improperly installed tiles, and used substandard materials.
Mitchell Ostwald of the Sacramento-based law firm of Mitchell S. Ostwald, which represented the homeowners, said "The jury unanimously found that Sunland acted with oppression, fraud, malice or despicable conduct regarding the construction of the homes. " Sunland is a statewide, San Diego-based builder.
Ostwald said that the homeowners were frustrated after attempting to deal with Sunland's warranty department for over the past two years. The trial began Nov. 1, 1994, following two years of litigation. Homeowners typically had problems with unsatisfactory repair work, heating and air conditioning units, paint quality and leaky windows. Before the lawsuit was filed, each home was inspected by a structural engineer and a general contractor.
"For these clients, the immediate nightmare is over," said Ostwald, who along with Robert W. Scharf of the same firm represented the plaintiffs. "Yet the trauma the builder has caused them continues to this day. Sunland simply refused to admit its errors, which caused financial hardship to these families who believed they had finally bought their 'dream homes. '
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