Imagine the excitement of having your dream-home built to your exact specifications and eagerly awaiting its completion. Then imagine painstakingly picking out the furnishings and other trappings of new home ownership. You have closed on the house and move in to your new home. You relax on your couch and plan to unwind by watching your brand new flat-screen TV, playing an online game, or calling an old friend. But instead of enjoying the experience in your new home, you find that the TV’s picture is distorted, your computer’s hard drive is corrupted, or your cordless phone has horrible interference. Not many people would think that the source of the trouble is their very own brand new home. However, that is exactly what happened to homeowners Paul Jones and Latosha Sanders and Eric and Ginger Estep of Canal Winchester, Ohio.
When contracting with Centex to build the new houses, the couples each signed an agreement with Centex that limited what the builder would be required to fix. By signing the agreement, the couples agreed to waive any claims for repairs not “specifically mentioned in a separate document.” The document was available for the couple’s inspection, however, it was at a different location and not before or at the time of purchase.
Apparently the steel joists in the two houses had become magnetized at some point, possibly while the houses were under construction. Centex refused to make the repairs citing the limited warranty.
The couples sued Centex in the Franklin County Common Pleas Court in 2007. The Common Pleas Court found in favor of Centex in 2009 and the Franklin County Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s decision in 2010.
The matter was brought before the Ohio Supreme Court and the Court overturned the lower court’s finding. The Court determined that the couples had not waived their right to sue Centex. The Court unanimously ruled that all Ohio home-builders are required to build in a “workmanlike manner using ordinary care.”
The ruling is a win for homeowners. But for the couples who purchased their new homes in 2004, the win was a long time in coming.
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