On May 27, 2016, McCollum Crowley attorneys Rob Moschet and Cheryl Hood Langel obtained a summary judgment dismissing all claims against the firm’s client, a general contractor sued by a homeowner’s association for damages due to claimed construction defects.
The plaintiff association claimed entitlement to more than $1.7 million in damages for replacement of fiber-cement and metal-panel siding on the association condominium and townhome buildings.
Diligent discovery efforts involving close review of association documents and targeted depositions of association officers, residents, and property manager representatives revealed that certain members of the plaintiff association and property manager representatives knew of the claimed defective conditions as much as five years before it commenced the lawsuit.
On motion for summary judgment before the Hennepin County District Court, the judge agreed that the association’s lawsuit was untimely under the Minnesota statute which requires claims for injury to improvements of real property to be commenced within two years of the discovery of the injury, and dismissed all claims against the general contractor.