Judge absolves county in Nature Watch lawsuit

His ruling tosses out the homeowners' suit, saying the county is

not liable for its inspectors' work. Still, an appeal appears likely.


 
Article Courtesy of St. Petersburg Times
By ROBERT FARLEY
Published August 6, 2004

Pinellas County cannot be held financially responsible for missing alleged building code violations at an East Lake townhouse community where extensive water damage has led to millions of dollars in repairs, a judge ruled this week.

A group of homeowners in the 182-unit Nature's Watch community sued the county in May, alleging the Building Department "recklessly and negligently" breached its responsibilities when inspectors did not catch scores of building code violations.

Now Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge John Lenderman granted the county's motion to dismiss the lawsuit. In his ruling, Lenderman cited a state Supreme Court case that held that government entities are not liable to individual property owners for the negligent actions of their building inspectors in enforcing building codes.

"This court is not free to disregard existing precedent," Lenderman wrote in his four-page order.

Attorney Henry Stein, who filed the suit on behalf of 72 homeowners, said the decision was "hardly a shock."

"He (Lenderman) took a more conservative approach," Stein said.

Stein plans to appeal the decision to the 2nd District Court of Appeal, along with a suggestion that the appellate court certify the case to go before the Florida Supreme Court.

Stein argued in a hearing last week that old case law did not apply because the county has since adopted a different building code.

"The damages are enormous," Stein said. "Why should Pinellas County be immune (from damages)?"

Nature's Watch was built from 1992 to 1998 by a company led by longtime developer Richard Geiger of Holiday. The townhomes sold from $125,000 to $300,000. Over the years, water damage started to appear and balconies became unsafe. The homeowners association sued Geiger, and that lawsuit is pending.

Nature's Watch homeowners were told by an engineer in April 2003 it might cost $92,000 per homeowner to repair water damage that, experts concluded, was caused by poor construction.

An appeals court in January released residents from having to pay court-ordered repairs, but most owners are out the $28,000 they had already paid in repair assessments. And more repairs are needed.

"These people suffered tremendous damage," Stein said. "Building inspectors are relied upon by people who buy homes. They are supposed to check to make sure these buildings are safe, and these are not safe."

Assistant County Attorney Thomas E. Spencer said homeowners are mistaken if they think county inspections are insurance of quality workmanship.

"The court determined there was no duty," Spencer said. "If there was no duty, there was no negligence. . . . The building department's responsibility is to the public as a whole, not to individuals."

It's probably a good idea when building a home to hire a private inspector to check the work, Spencer said. Ultimately, he said, much of the experience comes down to "buyer beware."

"Do I expect he (Stein) is going to get any different result (in appeals court)? No," Spencer said. "Do I think the Florida Supreme Court will take this case? No."

Nature's Watch resident Michael Glugla said he was not surprised by the court's ruling. Residents remain committed to an appeal, he said, because they believe the county should have to pick up some of the repair tab.

"If one or two units had the kind of damage that they had, you could say that it could have been an accident or an oversight," Glugla said. "But when you have almost every unit with serious structural problems, there was a failure on someone's part. Somebody didn't do their job somewhere."


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