Builders hit with defect award

Thursday, Aug. 1, 2002 | 11:17 a.m.

A Clark County jury awarded a Henderson homeowners association a record $12 million Wednesday after a construction defect trial that lasted five weeks.

The Pacific Legends Green Valley Homeowners Association filed a lawsuit more than four years ago alleging Pacific Property and Development Corp. and Pacific Homes Inc. violated numerous building codes when building 195 condominiums near Wigwam Parkway and Palo Verde Drive.

On Wednesday, the jury agreed with the homeowners, saying the companies not only breached the implied warranty offered by the companies, but the express warranty of quality.

Scott Canepa, who represented the homeowners, said the verdict, which was $3 million more than he asked for, is the largest in a construction defect case in the state.

"The evidence was crushing," Canepa said. "It's unfortunate the homeowners had to be dragged through four and a half years of litigation when the contractors could have fixed the problems and avoided all of this hassle."

Canepa said the contractors' insurance companies had offered to settle the case for $199,000 despite their own experts saying it would cost in excess of $5 million to fix the problems, which included missing fire walls and electrical code violations.

Attorneys for the defendants could not be reached for comment, but Canepa said he believes they are suing their subcontractors in turn.