Skip to main content
Fulltext search
FILTER RESULTS BY:
RECOMMENDED IN RENT
Moving to NYC after college? Here's how to find a rental apartment
RECOMMENDED IN BUY
How buying real estate in NYC is unlike anywhere else
RECOMMENDED IN SELL
A guide to using a no-fee renovation loan from a NYC real estate firm
RECOMMENDED IN IMPROVE
How to make your NYC renovation more pet-friendly
BEST REAL ESTATE WEBSITE!
National Association of Real Estate Editors
BEST REAL ESTATE WEBSITE! National Association of Real Estate Editors
Brick Underground
Social Links
follow:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Flipboard
  • search
Brick Underground
☰ Brick Underground
Brick Underground
Brick Underground
☰
Brick Underground
  • Buy
    • Buy
    • The Market
    • Investing
    • New Construction + Condos
    • Affordable Housing
    • Co-ops
    • Negotiating + Financing
    • How to Buy in NYC Guide
    Haley and JP move to Prospect Lefferts Gardens
    New Construction + Condos
    From Prospect Heights to Prospect Lefferts Garden: We wanted three bedrooms so we could each have a home office
    An image of the top of a brick New York City apartment building, including its parapet.
    Design + Architecture
    Parapet inspections: What NYC boards and building owners need to know about Local Law 126
    one-bedroom condo at 702 Hancock Street
    The Search
    7 reasons why ground-floor apartments are desirable—instead of dealbreakers
  • Rent
    • Rent
    • Affordable Housing
    • Roommates + Landlords
    • The Market
    • The Search
    • How to Rent in NYC Guide
    Midtown Manhattan seen from Roosevelt Island tramway
    The Market
    Manhattan median rent spiked 6 percent to $4,500 in April
    Tenant protest outside Rent Guidelines Board preliminary vote
    Affordable Housing
    Rent Guidelines Board intends to raise stabilized rents for a fourth time
    A beautiful pink flowering cherry tree next to an old brick residential building with a fire escape in Astoria Queens New York during spring
    The Search
    A wet, hot, broker fee-free summer? A major change to rental broker fees is supposed to start in June
  • Sell
    • Sell
    • Staging + Open Houses
    • Negotiations + Closings
    • Getting Ready
    • How to Sell in NYC Guide
    Madison avenue and East 67th Street, Manhattan, New York City
    Sell
    Median sales price for Manhattan co-ops and condos jumps to $1,165,000
    new condo building and older co-op buildings in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
    Sell
    Brooklyn median price nears $1 million but the spring market is a question mark
    View of NYC condo buildings from New Jersey
    Sell
    Private listings: What NYC sellers and buyers need to know about the off-market controversy
  • Live
    • Live
    • Neighbors
    • Kids + Pets
    • Neighborhood Intel
    • Products + Test-drives
    • Troubleshooting
    FlatRate moving brick underground
    Live
    How to troubleshoot your move in advance
    Sponsored By flatrate
    big apple moving NYC
    Troubleshooting
    How can I save money when hiring a moving company in NYC?
    Sponsored By Big Apple Moving
    Houses and apartment buildings in Queens, NYC
    Troubleshooting
    Mayor Adams is bringing the tax lien sale back. Here’s how to get your property off the list
  • Improve
    • Improve
    • Small Spaces
    • Small Projects + DIY
    • Renovations
    • Design + Architecture
    • Products + Services
    • How to Renovate in NYC Guide
    An image of the top of a brick New York City apartment building, including its parapet.
    Design + Architecture
    Parapet inspections: What NYC boards and building owners need to know about Local Law 126
    solar panels on a small house roof
    Design + Architecture
    Simple Yet Powerful Steps To Turn Your Apartment Eco-Friendly
    Sponsored By Ecoflow
    This is a photograph of a street in the Upper West Side in NYC viewed from the Summit in Central Park through bare tree branches.
    Renovation
    Fewer buyers, steeper rents, and costlier renovations: How tariffs could impact NYC real estate
  • Boards & Buildings
    • Boards & Buildings
    • Boards
    • Finance
    • Insurance
    • Legal
    • Property Management
    • Structure & Systems
    • Sustainability
    Burned and Boarded Up Windows
    When should your board hire a public adjuster?
    Manhattan GM
    What should we consider when renewing insurance for our building?
    Facade of NYC buildings
    How much is insurance on a NYC co-op or condo building?
  • Advertise
    • Advertise with us
    • Sponsored Content
    • Experts
    FlatRate moving brick underground
    Live
    How to troubleshoot your move in advance
    Sponsored By flatrate
    Apartment buildings at Grand and Crosby streets in Soho, Manhattan
    Affordable Housing
    Ask Altagracia: My mom is moving out of our rent-stabilized apartment. How do I take over the lease?
    Sponsored By Outerbridge Law P.C.
    big apple moving NYC
    Troubleshooting
    How can I save money when hiring a moving company in NYC?
    Sponsored By Big Apple Moving
  • Brick Report
  • About Us
  • About Us
Email Address
Fulltext search
FILTER RESULTS BY:
New Main menu
  • Buy
    • Buy
    • The Market
    • Investing
    • New Construction + Condos
    • Affordable Housing
    • Co-ops
    • Negotiating + Financing
    • How to Buy in NYC Guide
  • Rent
    • Rent
    • Affordable Housing
    • Roommates + Landlords
    • The Market
    • The Search
    • How to Rent in NYC Guide
  • Sell
    • Sell
    • Staging + Open Houses
    • Negotiations + Closings
    • Getting Ready
    • How to Sell in NYC Guide
  • Live
    • Live
    • Neighbors
    • Kids + Pets
    • Neighborhood Intel
    • Products + Test-drives
    • Troubleshooting
  • Improve
    • Improve
    • Small Spaces
    • Small Projects + DIY
    • Renovations
    • Design + Architecture
    • Products + Services
    • How to Renovate in NYC Guide
  • Boards & Buildings
    • Boards & Buildings
    • Boards
    • Finance
    • Insurance
    • Legal
    • Property Management
    • Structure & Systems
    • Sustainability
  • Advertise
    • Advertise with us
    • Sponsored Content
    • Experts
  • Brick Report
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Advertise
  • About Us
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER →
Social Links Footer
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Search
Ask a Co-op & Condo Lawyer [ SPONSORED ]

How much does it cost to sue a developer for construction defects? Is it worth it?

By Wagner, Berkow, and Brandt  | June 19, 2019 - 1:00PM
image

A lawsuit may be expensive but if that's what it takes to get the sponsor to the table, it's money well spent. 

iStock/gerenme

SHARE:
Share to Facebook
Share to Twitter
Print
More...

How much does it cost to sue a developer for construction defects? Is it worth it?

The answer is a lot; and it depends. If there are major problems like a leaking roof, defective windows or buckled flooring on a brand new building, then suing an unresponsive sponsor might be your only option. If it is a minor problem that can be repaired at little cost it’s probably not worth it because lawsuits for a building’s construction defects can be very expensive and drag on for years.

“If the sponsor isn’t stepping up to correct obvious problems and you are contending with leaks or other massive construction problems or possible code violations, you have no choice,” says Bonnie Reid Berkow, a NYC real estate lawyer, and founding partner at the firm Wagner, Berkow & Brandt. At the other end of the scale, Berkow dealt with one client who complained the bathroom was too cold. The solution, in this case, was to install a heated towel rack rather than start expensive litigation.

Preparing the complaint

Berkow says if the problems are building-wide, you’ll need to hire an expert to evaluate the problems and produce a report describing the specific problems. Preparing a legal complaint against a sponsor for construction defects is fairly complex.  

“It’s not a cookie cutter kind of complaint and it can be quite expensive because you have to tailor the complaint to the specific problems in the building which will be based on your expert reports,” she says.

Preparing a complaint can take 20 or 30 hours so with retaining an expert and paying the legal fees, it may end up being somewhere in the region of $10,000-$20,000. Usually, the complaint will include not only the sponsor but the architect, engineer, contractors and any others who worked on the building and may be at fault.

Without the right legal representation, there can be pitfalls in drafting the complaint. For example, it needs careful wording to avoid being dismissed. There may also be notice provisions or limitations in bringing a complaint based on the offering plan and purchase agreements. You also can’t sue for negligence and for contract breach based on the same facts, or for fraud based on misrepresentations in the offering plan. Only the attorney general can sue for fraud in the offering plan.  

Entering negotiations

Once the complaint is issued, you hope the sponsor acknowledges the defects and is ready to negotiate with your legal team. “You want to make every effort to get the sponsor to the table early on and recognize that fighting is very expensive on both sides,” says Berkow.

Starting a lawsuit may be expensive but Berkow says “if this is what it takes to compel the sponsor to make the necessary repairs to the building, that’s money well spent.”  Sometimes a judge will send the parties out to mediation in an effort to find an acceptable solution.

Often the sponsor will make an immediate motion to dismiss all or part of the complaint. You will then need to oppose it. This can cost between $30,000 or $40,000 depending on how complex it gets. Either way, it requires lots of paperwork.  

It may also take months for the court to decide the motion. During this time, the building is not getting repaired and the occupants are living with leaks or other construction defects.

Reaching a settlement

Berkow has been involved in dozens of cases related to construction defects and says the best option is to try to reach a settlement.

“Everyone recognizes that if it’s a brand new building and your roof is leaking, or your exterior waterproofing is defective, that’s the builder’s fault and they have to fix it,” she says.

She recounts one case where the judge came to the building with experts from both sides so that everyone could see and agree upon the problems and recommendations for repair. “That resulted in a settlement based on the agreed scope of work paid for by the sponsor,” she says.

If you do have defects, your first step is to get an expert to document the problems.

“You’re going to find a way to get the sponsor and other relevant parties to do the work that needs to be done, but having the right team in place to bring that about sooner rather than later is going to save everyone time and money,” she says.

Before you decide to bring a lawsuit against a sponsor, contractor or others involved in your building’s construction, talk with an attorney to evaluate the potential expense and your likelihood of success. This will help you formulate an approach best suited to your problem.


New York City real estate attorney Bonnie Reid Berkow is a founding partner of Wagner, Berkow & Brandt with more than 30 years of experience litigating in state and federal courts in New York state, including cases involving breach of contract, fraud and breach of fiduciary duty, in addition to real estate disputes and commercial actions. To submit a question for this column, click here. To ask about a legal consultation, send an email or call (646) 780-7272.

You Might Also Like

image
Buy How can our building get access to apartments of uncooperative residents to inspect, investigate, or make repairs?
image
Troubleshooting When there's water damage in a co-op or condo, who pays for the repairs?
image
Buy I received a letter saying I’m not compliant with NYC's 421-a tax exemption requirements. What does that mean?

 

Brick Underground articles occasionally include the expertise of, or information about, advertising partners when relevant to the story. We will never promote an advertiser's product without making the relationship clear to our readers.

topics:

Ask a Co-op & Condo Lawyer condos new construction new development
SHARE
TWEET
BRICK’S PICKS
Historic brick facades of NYC apartment buildings
Getting overcharged by a landlord? Here’s how the Tenant Protection Unit helps rent-stabilized tenants
Apartment buildings in Soho
New Rent Guidelines Board report justifies a rent freeze, tenant advocates claim
Brooklyn apartment buildings
Understanding net effective rent: Here's how to calculate your real monthly rent
image
How much should you renovate your NYC apartment or house before selling?
Council Member Shahana Hanif hold press conference before the City Council vote on Arrow Linen spot rezoning.
City Council signs off on 10-story towers for Arrow Linen site
couple standing close, only jeans-clad legs showing
Can my boyfriend claim ownership of my condo if we break up?
Follow Brick on Instagram
@brickunderground | #brickunderground
Brick UndergroundBRICK UNDERGROUNDREAL LIFE. REAL ESTATE. REAL NEW YORK.
Social Links Footer
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Search
Main menu footer
  • Buy
    • The Market
    • Investing
    • New Construction + Condos
    • Affordable Housing
    • Co-ops
    • Negotiating + Financing
    • How to Buy in NYC Guide
  • Rent
    • Affordable Housing
    • Roommates + Landlords
    • The Market
    • The Search
    • How to Rent in NYC Guide
  • Sell
    • Staging + Open Houses
    • Negotiations + Closings
    • Getting Ready
    • How to Sell in NYC Guide
  • Live
    • Neighbors
    • Kids + Pets
    • Neighborhood Intel
    • Products + Test-drives
    • Troubleshooting
  • Improve
    • Small Spaces
    • Small Projects + DIY
    • Renovations
    • Design + Architecture
    • Products + Services
    • How to Renovate in NYC Guide

Get more news you can actually use...

The subscription service is currently unavailable. Please check again later.

Delivered to your inbox weekly - for free.

*By signing up you agree to receive occasional emails on behalf of our sponsors

Footer Menu
  • About Us
  • Advertise

Copyright 2009-2024 by BND Ventures Inc | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Ad Choices | Login