Friday, July 18, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Condominium owners awarded $20.5 million

Condominium owners at the Canyon Willow Community in southeast Las Vegas were awarded a $20.5 million construction defect settlement Thursday.

It was the largest construction defect ever awarded in Nevada, said Scott Canepa, one of the attorneys for the condo owners.

The decision in the class-action lawsuit, Canyon Willow HOA vs. Torino Construction, was approved by Judge Nancy Saitta.

The court determined that the settlement was "fair and reasonable" and was made in good faith by the parties.

The 720-unit condominium complex at 5205 Caspian Springs Drive was built in the early 1990s. The construction defect action was filed Nov. 10, 1999.

A preliminary settlement was reached on May 29, the day the case was set to begin picking a jury. The trial was expected to last six months.

Canyon Willows homeowners alleged in their complaint that construction defects included roofs, chimneys, walls, balcony decks, floors, windows, doors, stairs and electrical and plumbing problems.

There were also serious mold issues within a large portion of the condo community due to water damage, they claimed. The homeowners spent about $1 million in mold remediation during the litigation period.

A source at Torino Companies, speaking on condition of anonymity, said many of the so-called "defects" could have easily been fixed, and that legislation such as Senate Bill 241 passed during the recent legislative session will go a long way toward preventing such "frivolous" lawsuits in the future.

The new law, pushed by a coalition of home builders and developers, provides a 90-day "right to repair" period before homeowners can file construction defect lawsuits.

"We gave them the opportunity to fix everything and they did nothing," Canepa said, "so Senate Bill 241 wouldn't have done anything for them."

Judge Allan Earl, who participated in mediation conferences, recommended that the Canyon Willow settlement be approved.

"I believe it is genuinely as fair a negotiated settlement as we or any other team of negotiators were ever going to reach in this case," he wrote.

Canepa, who also represented Rock Springs and Casa Linda in two previous construction defect cases that were each settled for about $16 million, said litigation has not killed the condo market here.