Implied Warranty Update - Does Not Extend to Architects for Design Flaws

I just posted a few days ago about the Illinois implied warranty of habitability and the recent case of Fatah v. Bim, which found that contractors can be liable for a claim of warranty breach by a subsequent homeowner, not the initial buyer, even when the initial buyer signed a waiver with the builder.  
The implied warranty is again in the news today, for a second Illinois appellate case, this time about whether the warranty extends to architects for alleged design flaws.  The court held that the warranty addresses the construction itself, not design, and therefore found the warranty did not extend to the architect.  
The case is also significant for the court's consideration of warranty disclaimer language in the contracts signed by the buyers, as to potential liability of the developer and other defendants.  The court found the disclaimer, which was in all caps, was sufficiently conspicuous as a matter of law, and that the developer was not required to verbally bring the the disclaimer to the buyers' attention before they signed.  
Finally the court also addressed when implied warranty claims may be raised against subcontractors (only where the general contractor is insolvent), and found the plaintiffs' pleadings did not sufficiently show the contractor's insolvency and therefore potential subcontractor liability.
The case is Board of Managers of Park Point at Wheeling Condo. Assoc. v. Park Point at Wheeling, LLC.

Nate Hinch is an attorney and partner at the law firm of Mueller, Reece & Hinch, LLC.  He has offices at 404 N. Hershey Road, Suite C, Bloomington, IL 61704, and 809 Detweiller Drive, Peoria, IL 61615, and can be reached by phone at (309) 827-4055 and email at nhinch@mrh-law.com.

Comments

Post a Comment

Comments are welcome, just keep it clean, respectful to all views, and no spamming or soliciting. Thanks!

Popular posts from this blog

Public Insurance Adjuster Contracts and New Licensing Requirements

Image
This post has been updated, see the new post here .   Imagine that your home is destroyed in a fire overnight.  After family and friends, you would likely next call your insurance company to report the catastrophe and initiate a claim.  The person from the insurance company who investigates your claim and calculates the amount to be paid for the loss is called an "adjuster."  About this time you also attempt to read through the fine print morass that is your insurance policy, and realize the difficulty of making sense of it all.  Now imagine that after you report the claim you receive a letter from a "public adjuster," which helpfully points out to you that the insurance company's adjuster is an employee of the insurance company and therefore tied to the insurer's interests, and that the public adjuster is available to help you negotiate a better settlement with the insurance company, often for a percentage of the settlement proceeds, say for example 1
Read more

Illinois 2015 Estate Planning Law Changes - Transfer on Death Instrument Act

This is the fourth post on changes to Illinois law for 2015 affecting estate planning.   The first  covered the amended  Health Care Power of Attorney act  and  the second  addressed the amended  "Small Estate Affidavit"  found in the Probate Act.  The third  summarized the  new Article IVa  added to the Probate Act for 2015, on "Presumptively Void Transfers."  A fourth change to Illinois estate planning law in 2015 is that the  Residential Real Property Transfer on Death Instrument Act , 755 ILCS 27/5, has been amended.  The TODI Act was enacted in Illinois just a few years ago, but TODI statutes have been around for a while in other States.  The TODI concept is essentially to have a mechanism for transferring real property at death without probate.  Although the Probate Act provides for "small estates" to avoid probate via a Small Estate Affidavit, the definition of "small estate" hinges on the value of personal property in the estate ($100,0
Read more

New in 2012 - Illinois' Residential Real Estate Transfer on Death Instrument Act

Image
Now that the calendar has turned over to 2012, the new I llinois Residential Real Property Transfer on Death Instrument (TODI) Act , 755 ILCS 27/1 et. seq, (the "Act") has taken effect.  The Act gives Illinois residential property owners a new and useful estate planning tool. What is a TODI?  A TODI is similar to, but distinctive from a deed; it is recorded with the county in which the property is located while the property owner is alive, but that takes effect only upon the death of the owner , as long as certain statutory conditions are met. Why the Act Matters - In Illinois, real property personally owned by a decedent requires a probate action, regardless of the value of the estate.  The TODI gets the property out of probate.  Trust planning can accomplish the same goal but is not typically focused on a specific property.  The TODI is a simpler, more cost-effective mechanism, more tailor-made to accomplish the goal of transferring residential real property outside
Read more