Navigating construction defect claims under NRS Chapter 40 in Nevada demands a strategic approach. A...
The provisions included in Nevada’s recently amended construction defect law grants additional protections and benefits to homeowners and HOAs in the state. After sweeping reforms to the state’s construction defect law in 2015, Nevada lawmakers proposed and passed several notable amendments to the law governing homeowners’ rights to pursue legal action against the companies, contractors, and others responsible for the deficiencies in their homes.
Allowing More Time to Bring Actions
The construction defect law amendments include extending the statute of repose. Homeowners previously had six years to file a lawsuit against negligent contractors and construction companies for home defects. Under the reformed law, homeowners now have 10 years to pursue defect claims from the date of substantial completion. An exemption included in the amendment permits homeowners to bring actions at any time for cases involving fraud.
More Reasonable Notice and Inspections Requirements
The recent amendments also scale back the level of specificity needed for a Chapter 40 notice and the inspection attendance requirements. The law previously required claimants to provide specific detail of every defect, damage, and injury in their notices. However, the reformed law only necessitates reasonable detail. While the amendments did not eliminate the requirement for claimants to attend inspections of the property, they do allow a representative of the claimant to attend on his or her behalf.
More Reasonable Warranty Exhaustion Requirement
Under the new construction defect law, homeowners now only have to reasonably exhaust applicable warranties, instead of having to pursue warranties known not to apply. Specifically, they need only diligently pursue builder’s warranty claims before they may serve a Chapter 40 notice.
Changing the Recoverable Damages
The new construction defect law also lifts some previously imposed restrictions on the recoverable damages. The amendment opens the possible damages people may recover in Chapter 40 claims to include any reasonable costs incurred in pursuing their cases. This helps to allow homeowners to recover expert fees and litigation costs incurred in pursuing their claims.
New Home Construction Defects Law: Expanding HOA Rights to Bring Claims
In addition to benefiting homeowners, the amended construction defect law expands the rights of HOAs to bring Chapter 40 claims for common elements and areas that the HOA owns, insures or has a responsibility to maintain. This amendment helped to bring the Chapter 40 statute in line with other applicable Nevada HOA laws.
