Gold Peak Homeowners Association v. GAF Materials

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedOctober 2, 2024
Docket23-1181
StatusUnpublished

This text of Gold Peak Homeowners Association v. GAF Materials (Gold Peak Homeowners Association v. GAF Materials) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gold Peak Homeowners Association v. GAF Materials, (10th Cir. 2024).

Opinion

Appellate Case: 23-1181 Document: 81-1 Date Filed: 10/02/2024 Page: 1 FILED United States Court of Appeals UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit

FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT October 2, 2024 _________________________________ Christopher M. Wolpert Clerk of Court GOLD PEAK HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC.,

Plaintiff - Appellant,

v. No. 23-1181 (D.C. No. 1:21-CV-03320-SKC) GAF MATERIALS, LLC, (D. Colo.)

Defendant - Appellee. _________________________________

ORDER AND JUDGMENT* _________________________________

Before MATHESON, KELLY, and EID, Circuit Judges. _________________________________

In 2015, Gold Peak Homeowners Association contracted with GAF Materials,

LLC to obtain enough shingles to reroof forty residential buildings. Gold Peak also

obtained a Limited Warranty that disclaimed other warranties and that required, to

get coverage, notice within thirty days of any problems. In 2018, Gold Peak’s HOA

president and residents acknowledged that the shingles had excessive granule loss.

Two years later, Gold Peak notified GAF of the problem. For failing to comply with

the thirty-day notice provision, GAF denied Gold Peak coverage.

* This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited, however, for its persuasive value consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th Cir. R. 32.1. 1 Appellate Case: 23-1181 Document: 81-1 Date Filed: 10/02/2024 Page: 2

Gold Peak then filed suit bringing state law claims for breaches of express and

implied warranties as well as a federal law claim for a violation of the Magnuson-

Moss Warranty Act. The district court granted GAF’s motion for summary

judgment, holding that Gold Peak (1) did not meet the Limited Warranty’s notice

requirement, (2) could not bring a claim of implied warranty because of the Limited

Warranty’s conspicuous disclaimer, and (3) could not bring a Magnuson-Moss claim

because the state claims failed. Gold Peak now appeals the three dispositions.

Finding no genuine dispute of material fact on any of its claims, we affirm.

I.

In 2015, Gold Peak Homeowners Association wanted to reroof forty of its

residential buildings. To do so, Gold Peak contracted with GAF Materials, LLC to

acquire Timberline ArmorShield II shingles for the roofing project.

Along with the shingles, Gold Peak purchased a System Plus Limited

Warranty for each of the residential buildings. GAF’s Limited Warranty provided

that Gold Peak’s “shingles will remain free from manufacturing defects that

adversely affect their perform[ance.]” App’x Vol. VII at 1925 (alteration in

original). And the Limited Warranty also included other provisions that clarified

when and how to file a claim and that expressly disclaimed other warranties.

Of relevance are two provisions. First, the Limited Warranty had a notice

provision stating that Gold Peak “must notify GAF about any claim within 30 days

after [Gold Peak] notice[s] a problem.” Id. at 1836, 1930. Second, the Limited

Warranty contained a “Sole and Exclusive Warranty” provision. Id. at 1933. That

2 Appellate Case: 23-1181 Document: 81-1 Date Filed: 10/02/2024 Page: 3

disclaimer was “definitionally conspicuous,” “set apart in its own section with a

heading in bold type” font, and “in the same size font as all other paragraphs on the

page.” Id. It stated, in all capital letters, “THIS LIMITED WARRANTY IS

EXCLUSIVE AND REPLACES ALL OTHER WARRANTIES . . . , WHETHER

EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, WHETHER BY STATUTE, AT LAW OR IN EQUITY,

INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR

FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.” Id.

Starting in 2018, Gold Peak’s residents complained about excessive granule

loss from the shingles. The Gold Peak Homeowners Association (“HOA”) president

testified that, for a period in 2018, “[a]nytime a windstorm” or “rainstorm would

come up,” residents “would have granules all over [their] patio furniture, all over the

streets, coming out of the gutters.” Id. at 1930. Indeed, the president went so far as

to say, “It was like a playground full of sand everywhere.” Id. And the president did

not just hear about the excessive granule loss once, for “whenever [the loss]

happened, people would complain.” Id.

Two years later, in August 2020, Gold Peak had the shingles inspected, and

thereafter, it made a claim under GAF’s Limited Warranty complaining that the

shingles shed granules excessively. Id. at 1926. GAF inspected the roofs and came

back to Gold Peak with a settlement offer on some of the claims. Id. Declining the

offer, Gold Peak instead filed suit. Id.

Once this case was removed from state to federal court, GAF moved for

summary judgment. Applying Colorado law, the district court granted GAF’s motion

3 Appellate Case: 23-1181 Document: 81-1 Date Filed: 10/02/2024 Page: 4

as to each of Gold Peak’s three claims. The court first concluded that “the

undisputed facts show[ed] that [Gold Peak] cannot establish the timely-notice

element of its prima facie case for breach of express warranty.” Id. at 1932. The

court reasoned that “[i]t is undisputed Plaintiff noticed a problem by at least 2018 but

did not notify Defendant of the problem until August 2020, years past the 30-day

notice requirement.” Id. at 1931. Next, the court concluded that the express

disclaimer in the Limited Warranty excluded and replaced any implied warranties.

And finally, reasoning that Magnuson-Moss Act claims under 15 U.S.C. § 2310(d)(1)

fall and rise with express and implied warranty claims under state law, the court held

for GAF on Gold Peak’s claims under the Act. Gold Peak timely appealed,

challenging the three grants of summary judgment on its claims.

II.

Gold Peak argues that the district court should not have granted summary

judgment on its claims for breaches of (1) an express warranty; (2) the implied

warranty of merchantability; and (3) the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act.

Stepping into the district court’s shoes, we review the grant of summary

judgment on these issues de novo. SEC v. GenAudio Inc., 32 F.4th 902, 920 (10th

Cir. 2022). Thus, just like the district court, we “view facts in the light most

favorable to the non-moving parties” and “resolv[e] all factual disputes and

reasonable inferences in their favor.” Id. (internal quotation marks and citation

omitted). And we must affirm the grant of summary judgment if GAF can show that

“no genuine dispute as to any material fact” remains. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a); see Shehi

4 Appellate Case: 23-1181 Document: 81-1 Date Filed: 10/02/2024 Page: 5

v. Sw. Bell Tel. Co., 382 F.2d 627, 629 (10th Cir. 1967) (“[S]ummary judgment must

flow only as a matter of law from undisputed facts.”).

Importantly, “the mere existence of some alleged factual dispute between the

parties will not defeat an otherwise properly supported motion for summary

judgment.” Anderson v.

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