Hershey v. Rich Rosen Construction Co.
Arizona Court of Appeals
817 P.2d 55 (1991)
Rich Rosen Construction Company (Rosen) (defendant) built and sold a home in 1976; James Hershey (plaintiff), the third owner, bought it in 1986 after his own inspection found no unusual defects in the exterior stucco. About a year later, the stucco began bulging and worsening; an expert Hershey hired found the stucco had been improperly applied in violation of building codes, and testified that properly applied stucco would normally last 30 to 50 years. Rosen refused Hershey's request for repairs, and Hershey sued for breach of implied warranty; Rosen argued the claim was barred by the statute of limitations and by Hershey's supposed failure to inspect reasonably before buying. The trial court ruled for Hershey on all points, and Rosen appealed.
Whether the implied warranty of habitability extends to a construction defect that an average buyer's reasonable inspection could not have detected, and continues to apply through the normal life expectancy of the defective home component, even for subsequent purchasers years after original construction.