It is an unfortunate fact that the vast majority of newly-constructed condominiums and homeowners’ associations, as well as renovated and rehabilitated conversions, suffer from defects in their design and construction. Many community association boards, therefore, spend substantial time and effort negotiating with the developer to remedy those defects or pay the association the necessary funds to do so itself. Quite understandably, most boards strongly prefer to resolve such construction defect disputes without incurring the significant time and expense of suing the developer and other responsible parties.

At Buckalew Frizzell & Crevina (“BFC”), our paramount goal is to resolve such claims without resorting to litigation. There may come a time, however, when litigation is unavoidable in order to protect your association’s interests because transition negotiations have hit a roadblock, your association has exhausted all other avenues for resolving its claims, or a statute of limitations or statute of repose is about to expire and may forever bar your association’s claims if a lawsuit is not timely filed. 

While savvy developers are aware of these kinds of pitfalls, community association boards need to be guided by experienced legal counsel to avoid them and make sure that they know about any looming statute of limitations or statute of repose issues before it is too late.

How Our Firm Can Assist You

At BFC, our New Jersey litigation attorneys are highly experienced in handling construction defect lawsuits, from obtaining the approved plans and other key development records from the local municipality and developer, and identifying and suing all potentially responsible parties, to engaging in discovery involving hundreds of thousands of documents and scores of parties and witnesses, as well as extensive mediation and negotiation. With our thorough analysis, depth of resources, persistence, and aggressive pursuit of claims, we have recovered millions of dollars for our clients, giving them the financial ability to repair the serious defects impacting their communities. We are ready to do the same for you.   

Representative results that BFC has obtained for our community association clients on construction defect/Transition claims: 

Obtained settlement in excess of $3,000,000 for a 100+ unit Hudson County mid-rise for numerous construction deficiencies, including improper installation of the exterior facade and walkways, and installation of improper waterproofing and other materials throughout the building. 

Obtained partial settlements on behalf of a 500+ unit Morris County condominium with a major national developer and a multitude of other parties totaling in excess of $1,250,000, relating to siding, façade, roofing and flashing defects.

Obtained a settlement of approximately $1,100,000 for a Passaic County townhome community after litigating against the design professionals and contractors for design and construction defects; the developer was largely judgment proof.

Obtained settlement without litigation of approximately $870,000 plus certain repairs performed by a developer for a 60+ unit, five story, Hudson County condominium.

After litigating against the developer’s contractors and design professionals, obtained a settlement of approximately $800,000 for a Passaic County townhome community whose developer was effectively bankrupt.

Obtained settlement with major residential and commercial developer worth $750,000+ ($650,000 in funds, plus other concessions valued at well more than $100,000) for a 200+ unit Hudson County high-rise condominium, where Board had determined it would not litigate.

Obtained settlement with national residential and commercial developer worth approximately $525,000 in funds, repairs and other concessions for 90+ unit condominium in Monmouth County.

Obtained settlement with developer of $500,000 for a 280+ unit Hudson County high-rise condominium, where new Board decided to cease litigation but reversed course after BFC persuaded it to continue, resulting in strongly favorable outcome for association.

Obtained a settlement of approximately $250,000 in funds, plus Sponsor’s decommissioning of monitoring wells, transfer of storage spaces, and performance of repairs to the exterior and/or interior of many units, in a Hudson County mid-rise, where Board had determined not to litigate.

Obtained a settlement of approximately $250,000 for a master association in Passaic County after initiating litigation; the settlement funded the necessary repairs in full.

Obtained a settlement without having to file litigation against a major developer to address construction deficiencies and to pay the Association $250,000 as compensation for severe underestimation of operating and capital reserve requirements for a 50+ unit luxury townhome community in Bergen County.

Obtained settlement with major national developer worth approximately $200,000 in funds, repairs and other concessions on behalf of a Middlesex County active adult fee simple community of 350+ detached single-family homes where association’s scope of responsibility was limited to clubhouse and certain other infrastructure.

Obtained a settlement with the developer of a mid-rise older adult community in Middlesex County, the terms of which require the developer to make extensive repairs to the building’s roof, façade and detailing as well as pay the Association $100,000 for financial claims.

Obtained monetary settlement of approximately $120,000, plus repairs to decks, stoops, railings, and pavers, to be performed by the developer and contractor, at a 50-unit townhome complex in Passaic County.

Obtained settlement of $100,000 for a Hudson County mid-rise for deficiencies in the installation of a wall constructed of EIFS.

If you have any questions about whether you should be initiating litigation or whether you have a deadline approaching that may require you to file litigation sooner rather than later, please feel free to email Cheryl Siegel (csiegel@lawnj.com),  John Middleton (jmiddleton@lawnj.com), Eric Frizzell (efrizzell@lawnj.com), Mary Wynn Seiter (mwseiter@lawnj.com), or Donna Shahrabani (dshahrabani@lawnj.com), or call us at 201-612-5200.