On June 9, 2023, Florida Governor Ron Desantis signed legislation amending the inspection requirements for condominium buildings that reach thirty years of age and for condominiums the control of which is turned over from the ownership association to the owners themselves. See 2023 Fla. Sess. Law Serv. 203. Some of the changes directly impact inspection…
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The construction of a structure encompasses many different areas that often are not realized until a party is subject to litigation arising from the construction. Litigation can often bring to light certain warranties that attach to building materials or products that make up a newly constructed structure. Common warranties potentially impacting parties to litigation arising…
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On April 13, 2023, Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law SB 360 (Chapter 2023-22, Laws of Florida). The new Florida law affects claims against design professionals in many ways. First, Fla. Stat. §95.11(3)(c) establishes a new statute of repose for design defect claims. SB 360 leaves intact the four-year statute of limitations, but shortens the…
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Kipp Flores Architects (KFA) brought a copyright infringement lawsuit against Pradera SFR (Pradera), American Housing Ventures (AHV), and KTGY in the US District Court of the Western District of Texas. KFA alleged the unlawful distribution of its copyrighted architectural design, contending that AHV either copied KFA’s works or induced Pradera and KTGY to do so….
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On March 28, 2023, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) published Regulatory Notice 23-06 addressing the “recent trend[s] in the fraudulent transfer of customer accounts through the Automated Customer Account Transfer Service (ACATS).” ACATS is an automated transfer system developed by the National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC). It allows eligible participants to automatically initiate, review,…
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In Pulver v. Kane, 2022 WL 17327182 (D. Nev. Nov. 29, 2022), a Federal District Court in Nevada upheld the economic loss doctrine to preclude a contractor from asserting tort claims against design professionals in suits seeking to recover solely economic losses arising from residential construction. Pulver Construction Company (“Pulver”) contracted with the homeowners to…
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The statute of repose is a powerful defense for a design or construction professional, since most provide an absolute bar to claims filed outside the repose period. Tennessee’s statute of repose was recently found to apply to contractual indemnity claims, when the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee granted summary judgment…
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In Enrique Feldman and Feldman Architecture v. Florida Department of Professional Regulation, So. 3d WL 17576861, (Fla. 1d DCA 2022), the First District Court of Appeal of Florida ruled against an architect for his online marketing of design services in Florida. Enrique Feldman is an architect with thirty-five years of experience in Venezuela, but was…
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In Gaston County Board of Education v. Shelco, LLC, 2022 WL 3363819 (N.C. App. Aug. 16, 2022), a North Carolina appellate court held that when a construction project involves multiple contractors, the statute of repose begins to run as to each contractor when its work is completed, rather than when the entire project is completed,…
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In Hotels of Deerfield, LLC v. Studio 78, LLC, the Court held the Florida Administrative Code Section which confers “all professional and legal responsibility” to successor architects who reuse already sealed contract documents does not also release original architects from liability. Hotels of Deerfield, LLC and MHG Hotels, LLC (“Plaintiffs”) retained Studio 78, LLC and…
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