Delicious Real Estate ? State Supreme Court Rules on Bizarre New ...

An unusual case?..from the Ohio Association of Realtor?s blog?.

The case of the magnetized house

By Peg Ritenour

The Ohio Supreme Court has sided with buyers who sued their builder for damages they claim resulted from some sort of magnetic field that exists in their brand new house. The lawsuit was thrown out by two courts? based on some fine print in the contract? until the Supreme Court reversed the earlier decisions in a 7-0 ruling.

Here?s what happened?

Shortly after buyers purchased a house from Centex Homes in 2004 they began having problems with their computers, TV?s and phones. The problem was believed to be caused by the builder?s use of steel trusses instead of wooden ones. Somehow these steel trusses had become magnetized and emitted a magnetic field that resulted in all the electronics in the house going haywire.

The buyers sued the builder for costs they incurred in replacing all their electronics under the theory that the builder failed to construct their home in a workman like manner. The buyers found out that another couple was also suing Centex over the exact? same problem and their cases were consolidated. The? builder successfully had the cases thrown out by the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas based on a clause in the contract that said the buyers waived all express and implied warranties. This was upheld by the Court of Appeals.

But on review the Ohio Supreme Court disagreed. In a unanimous decision the Court held that a home builder?s duty to construct a house in a workmanlike manner using ordinary care is a duty imposed by law?not a warranty ?and that this duty can?t be waived. In reaching this decision Judge Pfeiffer stated ?The duty does not require builders to be perfect, but it does establish a standard of care below which builders may not fall without being subject to liability?.

So what happens now? The case goes back to the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas for a trial on whether the builder met this duty. We?ll keep you posted on what happens next!

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