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A farm house in Glocester, R.I. |
Immersed in grading perdition in recent weeks, I fell behind in my usually steady diet of popular culture. Better late than never, I offer, here and in two subsequent posts, for your amazement and amusement, an overdue eclectic assortment of three savory news pickins.
Back in January, remember January? Capitol Riot, Inauguration, that one,
the Rhode Island Supreme Court held that the state's 10-year statute of
repose and three-year statute of limitations on tort actions for latent
defects in real property apply to homeowners who purchased from the
builder. The plaintiff-homeowners purchased their lakefront home in
northwestern Rhode Island from the builder in 1997, and they discovered
extensive water damage to the lake-facing wall of the house in 2012.
They attributed the damage to improper workmanship and materials.
Because they purchased from the builder, the plaintiffs tried to escape
the statute of repose by characterizing their action for breach of
implied warranty of habitability as sounding in contract law rather than
tort law. The court disagreed, deciding that the design of the law was
to limit builder liability, regardless of whether the plaintiff was an
original or subsequent purchaser. The case is Mondoux v. Vanghel,
No. 2018-219-Appeal (R.I. Jan. 27, 2021). Hat tip to Nicole Benjamin
and Crystal Peralta of Adler Pollock & Sheehan, via the Appellate Law Blog at JD Supra.
