California Court of Appeal

In this case, plaintiff purchased a home and sued defendant-homebuilder for strict liability, negligence, and fraudulent concealment, asserting that defendant built the home on unstable “fill soil” that caused numerous defects. Summary judgment in favor of defendant as to the fraudulent concealment claim is reversed, and judgment finding that plaintiff had no standing to sue because her claims accrued during the seller's ownership of the home (and those claims were not assigned) is reversed, where: 1) there is a triable issue of material fact regarding whether defendant fraudulently concealed information about the property's soil conditions; and 2) here, the material facts regarding accrual turn on disputed facts, so the jury must make these factual findings before the trial court decides whether those facts establish ownership of the causes of action as an issue of law.

Appellate Information

• Decided 01/15/2015
• Published 01/15/2015

Judges

• Jones

Court

• California Court of Appeal

Counsel