Ryland Homes Inc. has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by homeowners whose houses were built atop dangerous expansive soils.
Ryland, metro Denver’s sixth-largest homebuilder, will pay up to $2.1 million to settle damage claims in a suit filed by 254 Highlands Ranch homeowners.
A second major legal event related to expansive soils also occurred recently when a Douglas County district court jury ruled that Highlands Ranch developer Mission Viejo Co. negligently built homes that were damaged by swelling soils.
The class-action lawsuit brought by 957 homeowners against Mission Viejo Co. is one of the largest ever filed in the United States.
In settling its case, Ryland denied allegations of wrongdoing and did not admit liability.
“Our first concern is our customers, and we felt that (the settlement) was in our mutual interest,” said Ryland spokeswoman Anne Madison. “We felt it was best to spend our time and energy in reaching an agreement.”
Scott Sullan, an attorney representing the homeowner plaintiffs, termed the settlement “a good deal for both sides.”
The lawsuit alleged that Ryland improperly built homes with concrete-slab basement floors that are susceptible to cracking and heaving because they sit directly on top of expansive soils. Instead, the suit claimed, Ryland should have used structurally supported wood floors that are suspended above the soil.
Under the settlement, owners with damaged basement floors may choose to replace the floors with new slabs or with structural wood floors. New slabs require a 15 percent deductible payment by the homeowner; new wood floors require a 20 percent payment.
Sullan estimated the cost of building a new wood floor in a 1,000-square-foot basement at about $35,000.
The settlement also allows homeowners to take a one-time cash payment of $2,000 even if their basements show no current damage.
Ryland also agreed to pay Sullan’s law firm, Vanatta, Sullan & Sandgrund, $486,275 in fees.
