Daily Development for Wednesday, May 3, 1995

By: Patrick A. Randolph, Jr.
Elmer F. Pierson Professor of Law
UMKC School of Law
Of Counsel: Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin
Kansas City, Missouri
prandolph@cctr.umkc.edu

Just so you don't think we pay attention only to cases that impose liability - check this one out.

VENDOR/PURCHASER; WARRANTY OF QUALITY; NEW CONSTRUCTION; CONSTRUCTION DEFECTS; BROKERS; MERGER DOCTRINE; DEEDS: In Utah, economic losses cannot be recovered under a theory of negligent construction due to latent defects caused by allegedly negligent construction of a personal residence.

Neither can economic losses be recovered under the theory of strict liability, because the construction company is not a "seller" of defective components but rather only utilized defective components in building the house. Schafer v. Harrigan, 879 P.2d 1384 (Utah App. 1994). Further, although eroded in the sale of new residences, the doctrine of caveat emptor still applies to the sale of used residences in Utah, because there is an assumption that the vendee has a reasonable opportunity to inspect the premises. The general rule is that caveat emptor applies to the sale of used residences. The court followed Maack v. Resource Design & Construction, Inc., 875 P.2d 570 (Utah App. 1994), in which the Utah Court of Appeals rejected the idea of an implied warranty between builders and remote purchasers.

Readers are urged to respond, comment, and argue with the daily development or the editor's comments about it.

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