Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Oregon Townhomes Sinking Into The Ground; Lawsuits Are Flying

The Oregonian is reporting on one heck of a mess going on involving six Washington County, Oregon townhomes that are literally sinking into the ground.

County officials have declared the homes unfit and ordered the residents to evacuate and are concerned about gas lines bursting or electrical lines shorting.

Some of owners of the six townhomes are struggling to make payments on homes they can't live in anymore; others are facing foreclosure and bankruptcy because they can't afford to pay mortgages, rent and fees to lawyers fighting for them.

The association is suing the builders for what it claims are defects in the homes and townhouses throughout the community.

The homeowners have sued eight entities for damages. The eight entities named in the suit took action against 17 other companies. They, in turn, brought action against four more, and those four brought in four additional companies. All told, there are 35 parties involved in all the related litigation, according to one attorney involved in the matter. He says that the cases have generated about 40,000 pages of documents, 30 to 50 depositions and hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorney fees.

Meanwhile, the banks holding the mortgages on the sinking townhomes are pressing the homeowners into foreclosure. For more, see Hope of simple solution sinks with homes.