Lawsuit against homebuilder expands

Kevin Rademacher

Wednesday, May 11, 2005 | 10:45 a.m.

A 2003 lawsuit against Del Webb Communities Inc. -- originally filed on behalf of nine homeowners -- has been expanded to include owners or representatives of more than 1,500 additional homes, all in Sun City Summerlin.

The lawsuit claims homes in the community lacked weep screeds to guide water out of stucco walls, said Las Vegas attorney Barry Mitidiere of the firm Wolf, Rifkin, Shapiro & Schulman LLP. Damage experienced by homeowners, he said, includes cracked stucco, mold and fungal growth and the loss of stability and strength.

The prolonged drought in Southern Nevada meant that many many homeowners were unaware of problems until winter storms soaked houses.

"Residents had water coming into homes during recent rains," he said.

About 670 individual homeowners are now participating in the lawsuit as well as nine homeowners associations in the community that represent 850 homes. Mitidiere said damages for the current plaintiffs could be about $70 million.

Pulte Homes Inc., parent company of Del Webb, criticized Tuesday's announcement by Mitidiere as a publicity stunt.

"The lawsuit in question is nearly two years old," Pulte said in a statement. "We believe the plaintiff is seeking some quick publicity to entice additional homeowners to join the suit before seeking a class action certification from the courts.

"For almost two decades we've been building homes in Las Vegas. During that time, we've established a reputation for quality and customer satisfaction and we stand firmly behind the homes that we build."

Mitidiere said that the builder has not moved to correct the problems.

"They have been very unresponsive," he said.

A construction defect law passed by the 2003 Legislature, giving builders the right to repair defects does not pertain to this case, Mitidiere said, because the lawsuit was filed before that legislation went into effect.

A Clark County District Court judge is expected to rule on class action certification for the lawsuit by November, Mitidiere said.