Two individuals purchased a mostly-completed new house construction out of foreclosure. They finished the construction which involved items such as carpet and painting and not substantive construction work, and sold the house “as is”. Buyer subsequently discovered that the windows in the basement were not sufficient size to allow bedroom use of the basement rooms even though the house was marketed on MLS as having “bedrooms” in the basement. Buyers sued Sellers for damages (not rescission). The trial court initially ruled that Sellers were liable as “builders” under Kentucky law which carried with it a statutory provision for recovery of attorneys’ fees. Subsequently, the trial court changed its ruling and ruled that Sellers were not subject to the statute governing “builders,” and therefore no liable for the windows and in fact Sellers were not responsible as a matter of law for remediation to make the basement windows meet egress code given that a separate statute made clear that a builder is only responsible for what he builds and it was undisputed that the original builder (foreclosed on) had constructed most of the house, including the windows in issue. The trial court granted summary judgment to Seller. The trial court also granted attorneys’ fee recovery to the Sellers based upon the real estate purchase contract with the Buyers. Buyers appealed the trial court’s rulings in in favor of Sellers. See Hausman, et al. v Denham et al., COA 2011-CA-627 & 687 (September 7, 2011).
Construction/Builder/liability/statutory limitations on builders
