J.D. Lincoln v. Newport Customs Estates
Published: Mar. 16, 2002 | Result Date: Dec. 11, 2001 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: DUM0002315 – $2,006,410
Facts
The claimant entered into a written contract with Newport Custom Estates to purchase a lot and have a custom
home built on the lot in accordance with an artistÆs rendering and written specifications. The agreed price was
$1,595,000, later increased to $1,887,540 because of requested upgrades. The claimant later learned that
Newport Custom Estates, the respondent, did not own the property and that the house depicted in the artistÆs
rendering, which had high ceilings and a large rotunda style entry could not, in any event, be built because of
height restrictions on the lot which had not been disclosed to the claimant. The respondent was terminated and
a replacement was hired.
The claimant purchased the lot from the actual owner and completed the house with a
design as close as possible to the artistÆs rendering, given the height limitations. The cost to
construct the house was greatly in excess of the contract price and the house, which was to take
11 months to complete, took more than two years at a cost overrun of $1,437,500. The final
house with its reduced height had a diminished value of $350,000.
Other Information
<A>An arbitration was held before retired judge Philip E. Schwab of JAMS.</A>
Length
three hours
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