The Florida Home Builders Association has partnered with the National Association of Home Builders to file an amicus (“friend of the court”) brief in the Florida Supreme Court in support of an implied warranty challenge by Maronda Homes, Inc.
The brief was filed by General Counsel Keith Hetrick, the law firm of and Board and Cassel, and attorney David Miller, appealing a 5th District Court of Appeal decision that significantly broadened the judicially imposed common law doctrine of implied warranty by extending the implied warranty of home habitability beyond what was previously understood to be a warranty that protected the inhabitants of a home from serious defects that might harm health and safety.
In Maronda, the implied warranty was extended to roads and drainage facilities within a subdivision.
In the brief, FHBA and NAHB argued that the court should not impose the severe measure of an implied warranty to make developers into insurers against defects in common areas that meet regulation and do not directly affect health and safety of the home.
“This is a significant case that stands to directly affect the risks involved in home building,” said Hetrick. “Hopefully, the Florida Supreme Court will reverse the 5th DCA decision and leave it to the Legislature to legislate.”
A decision is not expected until summer of 2012.