Construction defect litigation for San Diego County homeowners

How long you have

Several clocks can run at once. A claim for breaching a written contract is generally four years. A claim for injury to real property is generally three. For a defect a reasonable inspection would reveal, Code of Civil Procedure section 337.1 sets a four-year limit from substantial completion, though that section does not apply to an owner-occupied single-unit home. For hidden defects, the kind a reasonable inspection would not reveal, ten years after substantial completion is an outer limit, and a shorter deadline can expire first. Get your date from a lawyer rather than counting on the ten years.

New homes

The Right to Repair Act covers new residential units where the seller signed the purchase agreement on or after January 1, 2003. It has its own building standards and pre-lawsuit steps. Ten years is its general outer limit, but some standards have much shorter deadlines, such as four years from close of escrow for plumbing and electrical systems. It requires at least a one-year warranty on fit and finish items like cabinets, paint and trim. It also binds original purchasers and their successors, so a later buyer of a covered home may still have rights under it, subject to the same deadlines.

Remodels and contractor work

If you hired the contractor, the written contract and the deadlines above are usually where the analysis starts. If you never hired that contractor, because the work was done for a prior owner, you have no agreement with them and generally cannot sue them for contract damages.

What a case takes

You will usually need an expert witness, a contractor who can testify to what was done wrong, how it should have been done and what it will cost to fix. Keep the contract, change orders, invoices, photographs and messages with the contractor.

Whether the numbers justify it

Hiring an expert and an attorney and litigating for one to three years is expensive, so the damages need to be substantial. If your real damages are in the range of about $20,000 to $60,000, a lawsuit may cost as much as you could recover, and we will tell you so.

Those numbers need to be substantial to warrant the expensive process of hiring an expert, hiring an attorney, and litigating for one to three years typically.

Where a San Diego County case is filed

San Diego Superior Court hears construction defect cases in its Central or North County Division, with East and South County included in Central, and the first complaint is filed electronically through the court's e-filing providers. Central civil courtrooms are at the Hall of Justice, 330 West Broadway. The North County Division is at 325 South Melrose Drive in Vista.

Cost and the first step

We usually charge a flat fee for litigation. Most matters cost about $5,000 to get started, and a monthly amount follows based on the size and complexity of the matter. Costs such as expert witnesses and filing fees can be extra. We cannot promise any result.

Call our intake team. If your matter fits, we schedule a free 30-minute consultation with an attorney. Document review starts after you retain us.