In the wake of the deadly collapse of a South Florida condominium in Surfside in June, lawmakers in Tallahassee this week are pursuing legislation to protect builders from frivolous lawsuits.
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The brother of a
victim of the collapse of Champlain Towers South on June 24
pleaded with the senators to kill the bill.
“It is with great disappointment and sadness that I need to
constantly fly here because millions of innocent property
owners and tenants will be facing inevitable,
life-threatening safety risks which could be avoided,” said
Martin Langesfeld in testimony before the vote on Wednesday.
“I speak on behalf of countless voiceless professionals,
politicians, entrepreneurs, and teachers and many other
faultless loved ones which were killed in the place they
called home: Champlain Towers South in Surfside Fla. Of
those, my sister, Nicole Langesfeld, and Luis Sadovnic [her
husband].”
Ninety-eight people were killed that day, when the 12-story
oceanfront condo, owned by the people who lived in it,
collapsed in the night. A Miami-Dade County grand jury
report cites numerous contributing factors, including known
structural damage in its lower floors that was overdue for
repairs, concussion from construction work nearby, possible
flaws in design and/or construction, and even
climate-related sea-level rise causing corrosive intrusion
of salt air and sea water below ground level.
Survivors have filed a class-action lawsuit.
Langesfeld said the proposal, Senate Bill 736, sponsored by
Palm Coast Republican Travis Hutson, would shift
responsibility for correcting latent, or long-term, defects
from builders to homeowners. A key piece of the bill reduces
the statute of repose, much like a statute of limitations,
for filing litigation over latent defects from 10 years to
as little as five.
“After such a horrific tragedy, we expect proposed bills
that do the exact opposite of Senate Bill 736,” he
continued. “The only ones benefiting from this bill are
developers and insurance companies. There is no benefit to
the everyday property owner and tenants, only a safety risk.
… Instead of dropping accountability from 10 years, why
don’t we instead work together and raise accountability so
it doesn’t occur again?”
Proponents, including Associated General Contractors and
Florida Homebuilders Association, said the bill can help
keep a lid on insurance costs for builders and
subcontractors and reduce the frequency of litigation.
“Everyone admits there’s a problem with construction
defects. How do we address the problem, that’s what we’re
trying to figure out right now,” Hutson said. “We’re having
problems with skyrocketing insurance, we’re having subs
[subcontractors] that can’t get insurance. It’s been a
nightmare for Floridians, for builders, for some folks on
the FJA side.”
The FJA, or Florida Justice Association, is an association
of lawyers who represent consumers in liability cases
against corporations and industries.
“What we’re trying to do is make sure that the homeowners
are protected from anyone that does anything wrong,
builder-wise, but at the same time, we’re not going to see
tons of lawsuits going throughout an entire association when
some people have no merit or basis in the lawsuit,” Hutson
said.
The statute of repose in his bill would establish tiers,
from a five-year deadline on single-family homes to 10 years
on condos and commercial properties.
Nutter, from the Florida Homeowners Association, said, “What
the amendment (the bill as amended) is doing is establishing
the five-year repose period, even for hidden defects, which
in the vast majority of cases are not going to manifest
within five years.”
Such latent defects include faulty foundations, faulty
structural components in attics and load-bearing walls,
defects that lead to wood rot in wall cavities, and
defective slabs, Nutter said.
Neil O’Brien, speaking Wednesday for the Florida Justice
Association, piled on.
“This bill, in light of Surfside, rewards bad actors,”
O’Brien said.
Sen. Gary Farmer, a Broward County Democrat, and Sen. Tina
Polsky, a Palm Beach County Democrat, voted against Hutson’s
bill. Farmer questioned the severity of the insurance-rates
crisis as described Wednesday.
“We can deal with insurance issues [separately] if they
really exist,” Farmer said.
But he could not support the concept of reducing homeowners’
ability to hold builders liable for latent defects they
caused.
“It’s not often as severe as Surfside — that’s the worst
possible scenario — but why are we protecting people who do
this, hide this, and why are we punishing homeowners who are
completely innocent? They didn’t know. That’s why it’s a
‘latent’ defect,” Farmer said.