After nearly four years of litigation in two courts, Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C.’s client, the board of directors of a homeowners association, accepted the developer’s settlement offer to remedy construction defects affecting individual homes and common areas throughout the development. The development, located in the Arverne neighborhood of Queens – one of the few parts of the Rockaways that was not devastated during Hurricane Sandy – suffered from recurring construction defects in the homes and streetways comprising the development, which was completed in 2006.
On behalf of the homeowners association, Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. commenced litigation against the development’s sponsor and the sponsor’s principals in 2012. The homeowners association sued for breach of contract, breach of warranty, fraud, negligent misrepresentation, negligent supervision of construction, and deceptive acts and practices in violation of New York’s General Business Law. Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. successfully fended off a challenge from a minority of homeowners who opposed litigation, persuading the Queens County Supreme Court that the homeowners association had legal standing to sue the sponsor defendants for defects affecting multiple homes and common areas. Then, in a rare procedural victory for Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C.’s client, the Queens County Supreme Court directed the sponsor defendants to withdraw their motion to dismiss and to participate fully in discovery until the case would be ready for trial. The parties then focused their efforts on a settlement.
Under the settlement, the sponsor will make repairs to or replace roofs, roof decks, exterior walls, sidings, trellises, windows, doors, subfloors, and other elements in specified homes. The sponsor will also correct conditions affecting pavers, street lights, asphalt pavement, poorly paved roads, and drains in the development’s common areas. The sponsor will also make a payment to the homeowners assocation to defray legal expenses.
Adam Leitman Bailey and Rachel Sigmund McGinley represented the homeowners association on behalf of Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C.
