Aired on Spectrum News 13 –
In a featured news story by Spectrum News 13, Ball Janik LLP Partner Jeffrey A. Widelitz discusses the importance of Florida homeowners filing legal claims based on shortened timelines due to SB360. In the wake of a bill signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2023, the window of time for homeowners and HOAs to pursue construction defect claims was reduced from 10 to seven years.
“There’s a tremendous amount of new construction going on, and it’s going up faster than we’ve ever seen it before,” said Widelitz, whose practice focuses on construction defect litigation. “And with speed comes errors, and that’s what we’re seeing with this new construction.”
The article shares that townhome owners at Grande Oaks at Heathrow are addressing construction defects at their property under the previous timeline. Marr Corr, president of the HOA, said that if the new law was in place when Grande Oaks owners first discovered the issues, they would have run out of time to file suit against the builder—and each owner would have been on the hook for repairs in the neighborhood of $80,000.
“Have an engineer come in and really analyze your building, because with the shorter amount of time – time is of the essence – and you’re going to have to get right on it,” said Corr.
Widelitz added that Tallahassee likely passed the law considering many insurers continue to flee the Sunshine State thanks to a rather expensive picture in Florida, where natural disasters and cheaper construction result in ever-higher insurance payouts.
“Just get ahead of it, because you don’t want to be in a situation where you’re just starting this process at six and a half, seven years, because it can cost you millions of dollars,” Widelitz said.
To view the story, click here.