Mary Jamison Moller v. The Atherton Homeowners Association
Published: Mar. 5, 1998 | Result Date: Jan. 28, 1998 |Case number: BC161657 Verdict – $495,000
Judge
Court
L.A. Superior Pasadena
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Facts
Plaintiff Mary Jamison Moller, a widow in her mid-60s, lived alone at a 25-unit condominium complex maintained by defendant The Atherton Homeowners Association. Beginning in November 1991, plaintiff made repeated complaints to the board of directors about a musty smell in her unit and that it was unusually moist. Plaintiff claimed the board did nothing in response until the spring of 1994, when it hired an architect to design a French drain system which was installed outside of plaintiff's unit. Plaintiff claimed that the board used their unlicensed gardeners to install the system, rather than the architect who had designed it, in order to save money. Consequently, the system was improperly installed and never functioned. By the winter of 1995, plaintiff's unit developed a stench throughout, which plaintiff alleged was caused by mold and mildew growing inside the walls of her unit. Plaintiff's bedroom was so moist she had trouble breathing. Plaintiff was forced to move into the guest room on the other side of her condominium. Plaintiff claimed she developed an allergy to the mold growing in her unit. Plaintiff brought this action against the defendant homeowners' association based on breach of contract, negligence and breach of fiduciary duty.
Settlement Discussions
The plaintiff made a pretrial offer to settle for $360,000. Per plaintiff, the defendant offered $100,000 before trial and $250,000 during trial.
Damages
Plaintiff claimed $321,000 for cost of repair. The defendant contended cost of repair was between $20,000 and $40,000.
Injuries
Plaintiff claimed to suffer allergies as a result of the mold growing in her condominium unit, pain, suffering and emotional distress requiring continued medical care.
Result
The jury verdict was unanimous, finding that every defendant was negligent, and that every defendant had breached his/her fiduciary duty to Moller. In addition, the jury unanimously found that the homeowners' association had breached the CC&Rs. After the jury rendered its verdict, the judge also found in favor of Moller on a claim for declaratory relief and ordered the homeowners' association to raise more than $250,000 within the next 120 days to fund the cost of repair. The judge ordered that the monies be held in an account at a federally insured financial institution, to be used solely for the purposes of repair. Per plaintiff, she and her experts will have the opportunity to supervise the repairs and have input into the selection of a contractor to perform the repair work.
Other Information
The verdict was reached approximately 14 months after the case was filed. Plaintiff's counsel reported that no construction defect claims were made against the original contractors or developers for the property because the property was built more than 20 years ago and all applicable statutes of limitations had expired. Instead, Moller's claims were limited to those against her own homeowners' association and board of directors members. EXPERT TESTIMONY: Per plaintiff, the credibility of defense expert Frederick Sturner was undermined because on cross-examination he was forced to admit that his California contractor's license had been suspended. Also per plaintiff, Sturner failed to produce any type of written report to support his damage estimate. SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE: A settlement conference was held on Nov. 12, 1997, before Judge Jan Pluim, resulting in no settlement.
Deliberation
eight hours
Poll
12-0
Length
eight days
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