Hellmuth & Johnson, PLLC and award-winning design and build firm College City Homes and Remodeling are again partnering to present Moisture Intrusion seminars for homeowners in 2009. These highly popular, free seminars provide homeowners and prospective home buyers with information on identifying and resolving moisture intrusion issues - including the home investigation process, remediation, and the legal rights and responsibilites of homeowners. Real estate and building professionals are

Hellmuth & Johnson is partnering with award-winning design and build firm College City Homes and Remodeling at the upcoming Midwest Home Fall Home & Garden Show, held at the Minneapolis Convention Center from October 3-5, 2008.

During the course of the three-day expo, the firm will offer information on legal issues related to both consumers and the building trades. On Sunday, October 5 at 12:00 p.m., attorney Christopher Jones - in conjunction with College City professionals - will

Protecting Your Rights: The Most Important Issues Facing Homeowners

Claims by Minnesota homeowners against builders can generally be divided into two main types. They are New Home Warranty Claims, described in Minnesota Statutes Section 327A.02, et seq., and non-warranty claims, such as Negligence or Breach of Contract. Individuals faced with construction defects in their homes, whether related to water intrusion or other damage, must be aware of strict time limitations that apply to all cl

Two recent cases from the Minnesota Court of Appeals clarified how notice must be provided to the builder before a homeowner can pursue a statutory warranty claim for defective construction. As background, the statute involved requires a homeowner to provide notice to the builder within six months of the date of discovery of defective work.

First, the Court of Appeals ruled that service of a detailed summons and complaint (which included a detailed inspection report) complied with the 6-month wr

Literally thousands of Minnesota homes built in the past decade have experienced water intrusion problems, causing an explosion in residential construction defect litigation. While the debate continues as to who is at fault, there is little debate that construction defects have resulted in millions of dollars in damages statewide. Today it is not uncommon for a home that suffers from water infiltration to require hundreds of thousands of dollars of repairs.

Since there are strict time li

A Protocol Primer for Community Association Property Managers

The construction boom of the 1990s and the early part of this decade has resulted in a number of issues affecting the role of the property manager. First, and perhaps foremost, the "boom" resulted in the appearance of many new properties subject to the Minnesota Common Interest Ownership Act -- vesting property managers with more work to do and more clients to serve. At the same time, a secondary result of the fast development

Should a prospective homebuyer hire a professional home inspection company? Due to significant legal implications, this decision is always best left to the homebuyers themselves. Real estate professionals face potential liabilities for recommending that an inspection go forward at all when the inspection is used against the homebuyer in subsequent litigation, and often times, for recommending specific inspectors who fail to properly inspect the home.

Inspection companies and, in particular,

Minnesota community associations often face construction defect issues arising out of original construction and improvement projects. This article discusses basic legal principles related to those construction defect claims.

A wide array of statutes apply to construction defect claims by Minnesota community associations. Minnesota Statutes Chapter 327A provides a statutory basis for pursuing breach of warranty claims by a homeowner, including community associations on behalf of its homeo

real estate agents are often involved in the discovery of construction defects by their clients during the purchase agreement and inspection phase of a real estate transaction. The Minnesota Supreme Court recently decided the case of Camacho v. Todd and Leiser Homes, A04-599, filed November 23, 2005, which directly affects some homeowners with construction defect claims. Specifically, the Camacho decision acts to bar homeowner claims against builders and subcontractors who dissolve their corpo

Last year, a major construction defect case was decided by the Minnesota Supreme Court. In addition, the Minnesota Legislature enacted a new statute of repose, clarifying divergent Court decisions on the issue. The Court decision and new statute provide clarification to property owners, construction contractors, attorneys and judges.

The Vlahos Decision

Last summer, the Minnesota Supreme Court decided the Vlahos v. R&I Construction of Bloomington, Inc., 676 N.W.2d 672 (Minn. 2004).