Altior Law attorney David Mollicone recently secured a win in the Michigan Court of Appeals on behalf of its residential-builder client in the matter of Gold v MG Building Company, Inc., (MCOA Docket No. 359501). The case involved claims of negligence and breach of the implied warranty of habitability arising from the construction of a Bloomfield Hills home. The home at issue had been constructed and sold in 2015 to the original non-party purchasers, who then resold the home to the Plaintiffs in 2018. Prior to the sale, the original owners of the home reached a full and final settlement with Altior Law’s builder-client relating to the construction, which included a global release.
Altior Law moved for summary disposition of all of Plaintiffs claims in lieu of filing an answer. The Oakland County Circuit Court granted that motion, concluding that no Michigan law extended an implied warranty of habitability to subsequent purchasers and based on the original owners’ release. Plaintiffs then appealed.
In its January 19, 2023, unpublished per curiam opinion, the Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed the Oakland County Circuit Court’s dismissal of Plaintiffs’ Complaint. Relying on Smith v Foerster-Bolser Constr, Inc, 269 Mich App 424 (2006), the Court held that no implied warranty of habitability existed because the prior owners owned the land on which the home was constructed pursuant to the specifications agreed to by them. In addition, even if the implied warranty applied to the prior owners, no Michigan law extended that warranty to the Plaintiffs as subsequent purchasers. The Michigan Court of Appeals also affirmed summary disposition based on the prior owners’ global release, holding that “Plaintiffs succeeded to the rights to sue the builders … by way of purchasing that property from the [prior owners], who mutually released the right to sue….”
Altior Law congratulates Dave on another win in this matter on behalf of the Firm’s builder client.