Home Builder Loses $475,000 Lawsuit

By John Accola
News Staff Writer

An Adams County assistant district attorney whose suburban home was wrecked by a cracked and heaving foundation has won a $475,000 verdict against a Westminster home builder.

The award - which under Colorado’s Consumer Protection Act could be trebled to more than $1.4 million - underscores the liability risks that Colorado home developers face along the Front Range, a geological hotbed for destructive expanding soils.

Ben Thompson, the Boulder defense attorney who represented the homebuilder in the Adams District Court case, maintains his client was outgunned by expert witnesses hired by the plaintiff’s attorney team from the Denver law firm Vanatta, Sullan, Sandgrund & Sullan.

“They are a big firm and they are very good at what they do,” Thompson said. “They simply overwhelmed the jury and the judge with experts.”

But for plaintiff Brian J. McCoy, the jury verdict reached last October in a courtroom a short drive from his own office is bittersweet.

The defendant - homebuilder Rick S. Sessions - officially dissolved his construction company, Sessions and Co., last year and isn’t covered by a liability insurance policy.

Scott Sullan, McCoy’s lead attorney, says Sessions doesn’t appear to have the assets to pay the initial award, let alone treble damages.

The parties now hope to work out a settlement in which Sessions will buy back the 1,500-square-foot house in Thornton at “fair market value” for $225,000.

“The fact is, everybody lost, and I’m just glad it’s behind me,” said McCoy, a prosecutor with the 17^th Judicial District in Brighton. “It’s just a drag even thinking about it.”

McCoy’s 1999 lawsuit accused Sessions of negligence and breach of contract for constructing the residence on expansive soils without taking adequate design precautions.

McCoy purchased the modest three-bedroom home at 3799 E. 135^th Drive, newly constructed, for $117,000 in 1992.

He soon encountered flooding in the basement, and the following year began noticing cracks in the concrete floor, according to court documents.

During the seven-day trial, a soils expert testified that a peripheral drain system was improperly installed and was channeling water against the foundation’s corners.

Sessions blamed his subcontractors and soil engineer for design or construction flaws.

The builder also said McCoy installed sprinklers too close to the foundation and should have landscaped his yard to keep water from seeping underneath the foundation.

Thompson said Sessions worked with McCoy for five years on various repairs that at up the $7,000 profit he made on the home’s sale. McCoy, however, wanted the home’s foundation rebuilt and additional repair work at a cost of more than $200,000 Thompson said.

“It’s our belief that the cracks were largely cosmetic,” Thompson said. (McCoy) did no maintenance for nine years and blamed everything on my guy, and the jury believed it.”

Source: Rocky Mountain News, Friday, December 14, 2001, page 3B