Guyer v. Zimmerman

24 Pa. D. & C.4th 333, 1995 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 243
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Cumberland County
DecidedMay 2, 1995
Docketno. 1431 Civil 1993
StatusPublished

This text of 24 Pa. D. & C.4th 333 (Guyer v. Zimmerman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Cumberland County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Guyer v. Zimmerman, 24 Pa. D. & C.4th 333, 1995 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 243 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1995).

Opinion

BAYLEY, J.,

Plaintiffs aver in their complaint that in 1979 they purchased a lot from defendants in South Newton Township. The lot is in a recorded residential subdivision developed by defendants. In 1990, a house was constructed on plaintiffs’ lot. Plaintiffs aver that after moving into their house they discovered their lot, “is subject to periodic severe flooding because the lot gathers storm water runoff from the rest of the subdivision.” Plaintiffs aver that they “have been unable to use large portions of their property due to standing water that collects there during periods of heavy rain or substantial snow melt,” and that condition “substantially diminishes the value of [335]*335their property.” Plaintiffs seek damages against defendants upon the following averments:

“Under the terms of the Storm Water Management Act, Act of October 4, 1978, P.L. 864, 32 P.S. §680.1 et seq., defendants, as persons engaged in the development of land, were under a duty to implement such measures in developing their subdivision as were reasonably necessary to prevent storm water injury to health, safety, or property. . . .

“By offering the subdivided tracts for sale as residential building lots, defendants impliedly warranted that the lots were habitable, and fit for their intended purpose as home sites.”

Defendants filed preliminary objections to the complaint in the form of demurrers to each theory of recovery. The Storm Water Management Act at 32 P.S. §680.13 provides:

“Duty of persons engaged in the development of land

“Any landowner and any person engaged in the alteration or development of land which may affect storm water runoff characteristics shall implement such measures consistent with the provisions of the applicable watershed storm water plan as are reasonably necessary to prevent injury to health, safety or other property. Such measures shall include such actions as are required:

“(1) to assure that the maximum rate of storm water runoff is no greater after development than prior to development activities; or

“(2) to manage the quantity, velocity and direction of resulting storm water runoff in a manner which otherwise adequately protects health and property from possible injury.” (emphasis added)

[336]*336A “watershed storm water plan” is defined in section 680.4 of the Act as “[a] plan for storm water management adopted by a county in accordance with [the Act].” Plaintiffs have not pleaded, pursuant to section 13 of the Act, that Cumberland County has a watershed storm water plan that would be applicable to this case, much less pleaded the manner in which defendants are alleged to have violated such a plan resulting in damage to their land. Those are requirements that plaintiff must prove in order to recover against a developer under the Act. Bahor v. City of Pittsburgh, 158 Pa. Commw. 150, 631 A.2d 731 (1993). Rather than granting a demurrer, we will allow plaintiffs to amend their complaint to provide such specifics if they can.1

Defendants maintain that plaintiffs’ allegation of a breach of an implied warranty of habitability is not applicable to them because they are the developers from whom plaintiffs purchased the lot; they did not build plaintiffs’ house. An implied warranty of habitability is applicable to a builder-vendor, Elderkin v. Gaster, 447 Pa. 118, 288 A.2d 771 (1972), and to builders [337]*337generally who contract with the public for the construction of residential homes. Groff v. Pete Kingsley Building Inc., 374 Pa. Super. 377, 543 A.2d 128 (1988). The Superior Court in Groff noted that, “We express no opinion on whether an implied warranty of habitability will be extended in other factual contexts.” Id. at 388 n.2, 543 A.2d at 133 n.2. This court has upheld the verdict of a jury that an implied warranty of habitability was breached by a builder who constructed a house for plaintiff that was subjected to substantial accumulations of surface water that entered the lower level of the house. Keller v. Mentzer, (opinion in support of order of June 2, 1992 at 1890 Civil 1988), affirmed, 430 Pa. Super. 656 (1993). This court previously held, in a case in which plaintiffs sought recovery for a drainage problem at their house in a residential development, that a builder-vendor as defined in Elderkin v. Gaster, supra, does not extend to the seller of a lot who did not construct plaintiffs’ home. Wicks v. Milzoco Builders Inc., 29 Cumberland L.J. 147 (1979).2

Notwithstanding, plaintiffs maintain that the case of Amodeo v. Ryan Homes Inc., 407 Pa. Super. 448, 595 A.2d 1232 (1991), “is precedent for applying the doctrine of implied warranty of habitability to a developer.” In Amodeo, plaintiffs sought damages due to defective [338]*338construction and/or fraud which resulted in acid mine drainage water infiltrating the basement of their house. Ryan Homes, the builder, joined the developer, Pleasant Valley Land Company, as an additional defendant. At a non-jury trial plaintiffs were awarded damages jointly and severally against Ryan Homes and the Pleasant Valley Land Company. On appeal, Ryan Homes raised the following issue, “Is a developer of property that is obligated to deliver lots suitable for construction of homes solely responsible for any damages caused by an unsuitable lot?” Id. at 453, 595 A.2d at 1235. Pleasant Valley Land Company framed the issue as, “whether it is the builder who is solely liable for plaintiffs’ damages for building on a lot which was unsuitable for construction.” Id. The Superior Court resolved those issues by stating, “[t]he trial court concluded that the two parties were jointly and severally liable for the full amount of the damages. Because neither party has offered any grounds for error regarding such a ruling, and because we can find no error on the part of the trial court, we will not disturb that part of the trial court’s order.” Id. at 463, 595 A.2d at 1240. The opinion of the trial court reveals that the foundation of the house had been dug into a shale substratum and intersected a flow channel of acid mine seepage.3 The trial court concluded that Ryan Homes breached an implied warranty of habitability. The court further noted:

“Both [Ryan Homes and Pleasant Valley Land Co.] had actual knowledge and/or constructive notice of the special conditions affecting parts of the area developed. . . .

[339]*339“The undisputed evidence indicates that employees, agents, and officers of both Ryan Homes and Pleasant Valley were at the site of the development almost daily during its complete construction. Both are charged with knowledge and/or notice of the special conditions which now adversely affect [the lot on which plaintiffs’ home was constructed]. . . . Yet, Pleasant Valley sat idly by and permitted this lot to be sold to the [plaintiffs] under Ryan Homes’ instructions for housing construction....

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Related

Wicks v. Milzoco Builders, Inc.
470 A.2d 86 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1983)
Wicks v. Milzoco Builders, Inc.
435 A.2d 1260 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1982)
Spector Motor Service, Inc. v. Walsh
139 F.2d 809 (Second Circuit, 1944)
Groff v. Pete Kingsley Building, Inc.
543 A.2d 128 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1988)
ELDERKIN Et Ux. v. Gaster
288 A.2d 771 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1972)
Amodeo v. Ryan Homes, Inc.
595 A.2d 1232 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1991)
Bahor v. City of Pittsburgh
631 A.2d 731 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 1993)
Chew-Bittel Associates, Inc. v. Crusader Savings Bank
635 A.2d 653 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1993)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
24 Pa. D. & C.4th 333, 1995 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 243, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/guyer-v-zimmerman-pactcomplcumber-1995.