Design Defects

The homeowners association for Montara Townhomes brought a lawsuit for over $5 million for defective design and construction of its complex. The association was attempting to extract the majority of the $5 million dollars from 3 subcontractors; two framers and a sider. Smith Freed Eberhard represented one of these two framers.

After a month-long trial, the jury concluded that the sider and two framers were not materially responsible for the construction defects. The jury awarded the homeowners association only $140,000 against the three subcontractors, of which only $60,000 came from SFE’s client. The result was over 4.75 million dollars in savings.