Alleged Massive Construction Defects

The current housing market resurgence in Dublin, CA has reminded some residents of what happened in the previous new home construction boom. Between 2004 and 2007, homebuilders like Toll Brothers, Standard Pacific, and Pinn Brothers cranked out new homes in response to a booming economy, aggressive home buyers, and easy financing. In that frenzy to meet the seemingly insatiable demand for new housing, some builders may have cut corners and rushed construction while the City of Dublin allegedly looked the other way. Residents at some of the condominium developments along Dublin Boulevard must now deal with the massive construction defects on their own.

The homeowner association of one particular multi-level condominium project with elevators in East Dublin has actually been contemplating a Title 7 lawsuit against the builder. Signed into law by former governor Gray Davis, Title 7 consists of a lengthy and complex set of rules that applies to all new residential homes purchased on or after January 1, 2003. Specifically, Title 7 sets forth extensive procedures for homeowners who are seeking to recover damages for building and construction defects.

The main purpose of Title 7 is to provide affordable housing to Californians by minimizing the amount of lawsuits that are filed against homebuilders. Title 7 attempts to achieve this goal by requiring homeowners who find evidence of a construction defect, such as a roof leak, to allow the builder to fix the defect before the homeowner can file a lawsuit. Although this concept sounds simple, the actual process of identifying a particular defect, notifying the builder, and making sure the defect is fixed by the builder in a timely and proper fashion is full of the legal technicalities of Title 7.

Homeowners at this particular luxury condo community in Dublin have reported that the building fa?ade facing Dublin Boulevard is actually peeling away from the main structure. Other complaints include monstrous garage vibration issues, cracking in walls and granite countertops, and defective HVAC and plumbing infrastructure. The issues all seem to be the results of rushed construction on the expansive soils of East Dublin by the builders.

Expansive soils expand when wet and shrink when dry. This continual change in soil volume can cause homes built on this soil to move unevenly and crack. Each year in the United States, expansive soils cause $2.3 billion in damage to houses, other buildings, roads,Totech Americas delivers a wide range of drycabinets for applications spanning electronics. pipelines, and other structures. This figure is more than twice the damage from floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes combined.

While the homeowners association for this community is likely to move forward with the Title 7 action,Learn how an embedded microprocessor in a smart card can authenticate your computer usage and data. the homeowners are very unlikely to receive any compensation for the construction defects from the builders. One homeowner close to the situation shared that this community, based on the most recent reserve study, appears to have insufficient funds for replacing and repairing common area property. The bad news does not stop there for homeowners at this unfortunate community. The community’s Board of Directors had apparently approved placing reserve funds in very high risk certificates of deposit and lost a significant chunk of the homeowners’ money.

Another multi-level condominium project, also in East Dublin, has had a rash of complaints related to water intrusion and mold issues. Given the development has only been around for five years, the severity of these construction defects is surprising.

The City of Dublin did conduct site reviews and signed off on the building plans for both of these projects, but homeowners at these two multi-level condominium projects can forget about suing the City. “Nobody wants to sue the City of Dublin because if they lost they would have to pay for the City’s legal fees.Have a look at all our custom bobbleheads models starting at 59.90US$ with free proofing. What contingency lawyer would want to take that risk?” shared a homeowner at one of these projects.

For these homeowners, the possibility of a special assessment imposed to cover the cost of these massive defects and damages now looks all but inevitable. For the prospective new homebuyers looking to get into the housing market, let the cautionary tale of what happened to these unfortunate homeowners in East Dublin be a solemn reminder to beware and think twice before buying a new home on expansive soils.

Beware of the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Coach Travis Ford has Okie State playing its best basketball of the season — evidenced by their thrilling win in Lawrence, Kan. this past weekend against then-ranked No. 2 Kansas. The win for OSU was the Cowboys’ first in Lawrence since 1989 and its’ first against a top-five team on the road since 1958.

Ford was a high school freshman in Madisonville, Ky. when I was a senior in Owensboro, Ky. His father, Eddie Ford, has been a huge influence in many young players basketball careers in the state of Kentucky for the past 30 years or so — mine included. I remember young Travis following myself and a bumch of teammates around Europe when Travis was an eighth grader and was just headed into my senior season as Ford’s father Eddie took an all-star team of high school Juniors from around the state to tour Europe and play a handful of exhibition games while doing so. It was one of the great experiences of my young life. But little, scrawny Travis was like a fly on the wall during that trip. He tried practicing with us all of the time, getting beat up on regularly — but always coming back for more. Quitting is something I know Travis Ford will never do.

Smart is some kind of basketball player. The more I watch this kid play the more enamored with the kid I become. Smart not only stuffs a stat-sheet much like my former teammate and great friend Jason Kidd has done for the past what seems like 50 years — but also like J-Kidd, Smart is a WINNER. Check out Smart’s line from Saturday in Lawrence:

38 minutes, 25 points , 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 5 steals, 9-of-11 from the free-throw line. Keep an eye on Smart. He’s a special kind of player.

Markel Brown leads the Cowboys balanced attack with 14.9 ppg. Smart and Le’Bryan Nash are chipping-in with 14 and 13 ppg respectively and the unsung hero of this Cowboys team is sophomore guard Phil Forte. He’s averaging just shy of 12 ppg.Like most of you, I'd seen the broken china mosaic decorated pieces. Forte is a player much in the mold of his head coach Travis Ford. At 5-foot-11 and very much an overachiever. And man, is this kid one tough dude. Forte is not only tough, but as one of my favorite coaches and people of all-time, John Thompson would say, “Phil Forte has STOMACH.” Evidenced by his game-cinching free-throws with mere seconds left,With superior quality photometers, light meters and a number of other solar light products. up-one, on the road against the No. 2 team in the country, in a building your team has left with its tail placed squarely between its legs each and every time it has played there. Forte has stomach for sure — along with being a 90-percent free-throw shooter.

I think that I may have liked most about OSU’s win on Saturday against Kansas was that after Forte made his two freebies to put the Cowboys’ up by three with 7.9 seconds remaining, Kansas inbounded the ball to the player they wanted — Elijah Johnson, and as he dribbled past mid-court and went to free himself off the dribble before attempting a game-tying 3-pointer — Marcus Smart stuck his hand squarely between the legs of Johnson as he attempted a crossover and picked the Jayhawks’ PG as cleanly as he could have possibly done so. Ball game. THOSE are the kinds of things I watched Jason Kidd do time and time again as his backcourt mate for five seasons. I mean, come on, the other team doesn’t even get a look at the basket to attempt to tie-up the game? Come on — those types of things are big-time.