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See you in court: construction defect lawsuits mount

Gil Dezer, the developer of Trump Towers I, II and III (above), was sued last April for alleged shoddy construction.
Gil Dezer, the developer of Trump Towers I, II and III (above), was sued last April for alleged shoddy construction.

From the March issue: Business may be slow for realtors and developers, but it’s booming for Gary Brown, a Miami attorney with Arnstein & Lehr specializing in suing builders for construction defects. “I’ve got about half a dozen cases I’m currently working on,” Brown recently told The Real Deal. “As more projects get completed this year, I don’t expect a shortage of construction defect lawsuits in 2017 and 2018.”

Indeed, the slowdown in the once-red-hot luxury condo market has created a post-boom flurry of litigation over construction defects between attorneys like Brown, who represent condo associations, and their adversaries representing developers, architects, general contractors, engineers and subcontractors. The activity has been fueled by the glut of buildings that developers rushed to get finished before the boom phase of the most recent cycle grinded to a halt, as well as by buyers feeling remorse over having signed contracts at the top of the market.

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From condominium buildings built more than 10 years ago, like the Trump Towers in Sunny Isles Beach, to recently constructed glass towers like Faena House in Miami Beach, dissatisfied unit owners are turning to the courts to force developers and construction companies to fix alleged errors or pay up. 

“The increased number of lawsuits should be directly reflective of the increased number of buildings,” Gil Dezer, developer of Trump Towers I, II and III, told TRD. “So the fact that many buildings were built [in the last decade], more than ever before, is the reason you are seeing more lawsuits than ever before.” [more]

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ConstructionReal Estate Lawsuits