Construction & Development Defects & Sponsor/Developer Disputes
We also frequently work together with our clients to successfully negotiate, without litigation, favorable solutions and settlements with declarants, sponsors, developers, contractors and design professionals, resulting in corrective work performed by them and/or financial contributions. In this context, we are able to coordinate with experts to secure the information and opinions necessary to leverage the board’s or building’s position in any negotiation. We are also well equipped to explain – in plain language – all of this to the unit owners along with the reasons for taking various actions.
By participating in pre-suit negotiations with the sponsor/developer, we seek to avoid litigation and obtain a fair result for the association. If transition-related litigation is necessary, we’re there to provide the association with advice necessary to make informed decisions, and then to litigate on a contingency basis, or on any number of other alternative including fixed fee arrangements.
By working together throughout the process, boards become informed members of the litigation team. We work with many of the leading experts in the industry, working passionately and diligently to maximize the Association’s recovery via negotiation, mediation, litigation and/or trial, or a combination of them.
Among our attorneys’ accomplishments:
- Won an Appellate Division published ruling in Cypress Point Condominium Association, Inc. v. Adria Towers, LLC., et al., confirming for the first time in New Jersey that associations plagued by defective roofs, brick, siding and other defects which allow water to intrude and cause damage now have a source of recovery from the General Contractor’s insurance carrier. Prior to this decision, there had been no determination by any appellate court in New Jersey on this issue. Prior to Cypress Point, General Contractors relied upon a Federal Court opinion which ruled that a General Contractor’s policy could not be triggered by any damage to the building/common elements in question, leaving the damaged associations with a massive recovery gap.
- Recovery of more than $1.6 million for a 400+ unit condominium project in Northern New Jersey. The matter involved water leaks in roofs and windows, deficient entranceways and masonry and other construction defects. The lawsuit was brought against 14 separate subcontractors and developer entities, all of whom settled prior to trial.
- Negotiation of a $1.2 million settlement for a 92 unit condominium, converted from a historical building in Bergen County New Jersey. The matter, which settled on the second day of trial, included defects in the EIFS, exterior masonry facade, windows and the concrete pre-fabricated two-story parking garage.
- Receipt of $200,000 plus repair work and an additional 2 years of warranty coverage by the developer for a 100 unit condo in Monmouth County, New Jersey with vinyl siding, shingle roof, attic ventilation and bulkhead issues.
- After taking the matter over from another law firm, with a trial date looming, we were able to recover more than $700,000 for a high rise association in North Jersey. The matter involved roof leaks, brick façade defects, significant flooding issues, and the substantial negotiation of issues between the Association and a neighboring property related to the interpretation of various master deed provisions. The resolution of those issues saved the association thousands of dollars per year going forward.
- Payment of $289,000 by the developer of a single family home clad in EIFS that experienced water intrusion and damage as a result of the improperly installed EIFS.
- Invalidation of sponsor-drafted governing document veto clauses.
- Financial settlements for condominiums, cooperatives and homeowners associations suffering from underfunded reserves, and delinquent sponsor, developer and declarant assessments and common charges.
- The creation of rent receiverships with respect to sponsor units, for sale and in development, that are currently delinquent in the payment of assessments.
- Secured the early transfer of control from the sponsor to the owners, together with rent receiverships on sponsor’s empty units, via PNC’s foreclosure of its construction mortgage.
- Successfully fought a central New Jersey developer and apartment owner to minimize that developer’s lingering control over the association in which its apartments were situated, securing a judicially reformed declaration and governance structure, an increase in the developer’s financial obligations and a formal and effective way to address any developer under-funding and construction defects without litigation.
- We currently represent a commercial condominium in Mercer County, New Jersey, with regard to the withdrawal of property from the association by the developer.
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