Chip Merlin | Property Insurance Coverage Law Blog | January 27, 2016 State Farm and Farmers have created new property insurance policy forms which significantly change the rules of appraisal. One of the trends of insurance coverage is that new policies are not being written with standard language, where years of case law have interpreted… Continue reading New Appraisal Clauses Change Appraisal
A New Twist to Construction Fraud
Trey R. Kelleter | Vandeventer Black LLP | January 20, 2016 Virginia Code §18.2-200.1 makes it a crime to commit construction fraud, that is, to take an advance of funds in return for a promise to perform a job with no real intention of performing and indeed, failing to substantially perform. It is a felony… Continue reading A New Twist to Construction Fraud
Contractors can be Liable for Following Owners’ Directives
Drew W. Colby and James Heffernan | Partridge Snow & Hahn LLP | January 2016 In Downey v. Chutehall Construction Co. (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-001-16), the Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled a contractor can be liable for violating building codes despite the fact that the party suing it directed the contractor to perform the non-compliant work.… Continue reading Contractors can be Liable for Following Owners’ Directives
Arbitrators’ Award of Attorney’s Fees Thrown Out Because the Parties’ Agreement Did Not Provide for It
Andrew G. Wailgum and Sara P. Bryant | Murtha Cullina LLP | January 27, 2016 The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court recently voided an arbitration panel’s award of attorney’s fees because the terms of the parties’ arbitration agreement did not specifically provide that the prevailing party could be awarded fees. Beacon Towers Condo. Trust v. Alex, 473… Continue reading Arbitrators’ Award of Attorney’s Fees Thrown Out Because the Parties’ Agreement Did Not Provide for It
Litigating Construction Defects in Community Association Property: Part 1
D. Brad Hughes | Jimerson & Cobb P.A. | January 27, 2016 The Board of a Condominium Association or Homeowners Association has many decisions to make when it discovers telltale signs of construction defects in common property. These latent construction defects can manifest themselves in a number of different ways, including but not limited to,… Continue reading Litigating Construction Defects in Community Association Property: Part 1