Owners or representatives of more than 1,400 homes in Sun City Summerlin have filed the state's largest-ever construction defect lawsuit against the subdivision's developer, Del Webb Communities.

The lawsuit, which claims Del Webb Communities failed to install metal strips designed to protect homes against water damage, dwarfs any previous construction defect complaints in Nevada in both the number of homes involved and the monetary damages sought.

The plaintiffs' attorney, Barry Mitidiere of local law firm Wolf, Rifkin, Shapiro & Schulman, said the homeowners are seeking about $70 million in damages. Mitidiere said he'll seek certification at a fall hearing to make the lawsuit a class action involving all 7,800 homes in Sun City Summerlin. If the certification comes through, Mitidiere said damages could total "several hundred million dollars."

"Experts tell us it will cost $50,000 a home to repair these damages," he said.

The lawsuit includes more than 670 individual homeowners, as well as 850 houses represented by homeowners associations. The plaintiffs filed the action in Clark County District Court on April 27.

Mitidiere said nine home- owners initially filed a lawsuit in July 2003, but this winter's heavy rains "revealed the extent of the problem" and ballooned the complaint to its current total. Mitidiere said the firm continues to add homes to the action at the rate of six or seven per week.

At issue are weep screeds, pieces of metal embedded at the base of a stucco wall to funnel water onto the ground and away from the home, thus preventing water from seeping into the building.

The lawsuit alleges that the lack of weep screeds has led to cracked stucco, promoted the growth of mold and fungus and eroded the stability and strength of walls and framing on the homes.

The lawsuit also accuses Del Webb of "concealing material and necessary information" when it sought a building-code exemption from the city of Las Vegas, which requires the installation of weep screeds on the stucco system Del Webb used at Sun City Summerlin.

Mitidiere said none of the homes in the suit are structurally uninhabitable, though several homeowners have moved out of their homes because of health issues related to mold damage.

Mitidiere said his firm contacted Del Webb in 2003 and informed the company of the problem, but the builder "denied there is any problem."

"In fact, they embarked on a letter-writing campaign to homeowners, telling them there was nothing wrong with their homes," he said.

In a Tuesday statement about the lawsuit, Del Webb pointed to its experience building homes in Southern Nevada.

"We have been building homes in Las Vegas for almost two decades, during which time we've established a reputation for customer satisfaction, quality and for standing behind the homes we build," the company stated. "Our reputation is our proudest asset, and we will always work with our homeowners to resolve any issues that arise."

Mitidiere noted that the state's "right to repair" law, which requires homeowners to notify a builder of construction defects and allow the builder to remedy the issue before a lawsuit, doesn't apply in this case.

The initial lawsuit involving nine homeowners was filed the month before the law went into effect on Aug. 1, 2003.

But Mitidiere said Del Webb "can fix the problem anytime. We'd welcome that. They deny there is a problem."

Before this Del Webb action, Southern Nevada's largest construction defect lawsuit involved about 200 houses at Beazer Homes' Craig Ranch Village in North Las Vegas. Homeowners sought $23.7 million to repair cracks in foundations, walls and driveways allegedly caused by expansive soil.

Beazer countered that the homes would cost just $3.4 million to fix.

After a three-month trial and a day and a half of deliberations, a jury awarded the homeowners $7.8 million in damages in February 2003.

Beazer last week argued before the state Supreme Court that the judgment should be overturned because the case should not have been granted class-action status.

Mitidiere said Del Webb is also involved in weep-screed lawsuits in California and Arizona.