One of the most powerful home construction companies in the nation is facing allegations of shoddy construction at one of its South Florida communities. And attorneys for the community said these defects posed a danger to residents.
The homeowners' association at Martinique at the Oasis, which is a Lennar Homes community in Homestead, filed the lawsuit in the Miami-Dade Circuit Court. The lawsuit alleged Lennar did not construct the homes under all applicable building codes and ignored the association's demands to make necessary repairs.
Lawsuits against Lennar are nothing new, as the construction company has faced litigation over the last several decades. Most notably, Lennar was named as a defendant in multiple actions when Hurricane Andrew leveled thousands of South Florida homes in 1992, including many homes Lennar built in the 1980s.
Building defects, such as nails that went through plywood without hitting trusses, violated the then-existing Miami-Dade Building Code. As a result, builders, including Lennar, were hit with a storm of litigation in the courtroom. Due to the damage suffered in Hurricane Andrew, state and local officials significantly strengthened building codes to improve the safety of the South Florida population that is particularly vulnerable to hurricane damage.
Now, Roger Brown, a partner at Morgan & Morgan's West Palm Beach office who represents the association, said a Miami-Dade Circuit Court judge would have to decide if Lennar "shirked" its responsibility to fix the issues presented by the association.
Martinique has 26 townhouse-style buildings, which are subdivided into 241 individual units. In 2018, the association became aware of construction defects in the "exterior wall cladding system" when there was discoloration in the paint.
In the complaint, the association argued that Lennar was required to "perform, coordinate and supervise the construction" to make sure it aligned with the plans and state and local building codes, as well as to maintain, repair, and make replacements requested by the association.
|Read the complaint:
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The association hired GCI Consultants to investigate the issues. Through its investigation, GCI determined that defects caused water intrusion in the stucco, stone cladding and foam moldings on the outside of the building.
Lennar said the association's 558 Notice describing defective conditions in detail was dismissed as too "vague" to address. The association stated in response in its complaint that since Lennar did not bother to request an inspection of the defects, further investigation by GCI provided more detail in a supplemental notice of claims document. Lennar Corp. did not respond to a request for comment.
Stuart Miller, Lennar's CEO, announced strong earnings and signaled strong demand for new single-family homes due to the current housing shortage, in a recent second quarter earnings call.
Brown hopes that if these types of defects at Martinique become apparent in other communities, the association's lawsuit will empower other homeowner associations to investigate the defects, so Lennar "does not cut corners" on future building projects.
|READ MORE:
3rd DCA Remands Case From Woman Suing Lennar Over Alleged Hidden Danger in Model Home
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Michael A. Mora
Michael was born and raised in South Florida. He went to undergrad at Florida Atlantic University and earned his master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He is the crypto litigation reporter for Law.com, as well as an editor for ALM Global. You can email him at [email protected].
