Developer to Pay $4.6 Million in Drainage Case

DANA POINT —  A homeowners’ association has received a $4.6-million settlement from a Newport Beach developer to repair drainage problems and other construction defects in a 187-unit hillside community.

But the association’s victory Wednesday was bittersweet. The same day, a Superior Court jury found that Encantamar Homeowners Assn. had been negligent in making repairs to the property and ordered the organization to pay five of the homeowners $135,000.

The association filed suit against the original developer, Shawntana Fieldstone Associates, in late 1995 just weeks after the homeowners brought their suit.

Both groups allege that faulty drainage and waterproofing allowed water to leak into the townhomes and condominiums, spreading mold and mildew up walls and on windows.

“It was constant,” said Julie B. Good, a resident and one of the plaintiffs. “Mold grew on clothes, my shoes, the paint. You could see mold growing on the beams,” she said.

The plaintiffs, most of whom have since moved from the complex, claim the mold also caused health problems, including bronchitis.

The two sides disagree, however, on how the construction problem was handled. Good and four other residents claim the homeowners’ association “brushed off” their repeated requests for repairs and would not provide information about other damage to the 7-year-old complex.

They also said the association failed to press Shawntana to make complete repairs to the property. “The jury said the board had done too little, too late,” Good said.

An attorney for the association disagreed, saying the group had worked with the developer in an effort to have repairs made while avoiding a lawsuit. The homeowners’ association took legal action after contractors failed to complete repairs, said the attorney, Joseph Kaneda.

David Langlois, Fieldstone senior vice president, said his company was “simply an investor on the project. We had nothing to do with the construction.” The partnership’s insurer paid the settlement, he said.

The project builder, Shawntana Development Corp., is no longer in business, Langlois said.