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36
N O V E M B E R , 2 0 1 7
developer and a unit owner controlled
condominium association.
2
It is not
realistic to suggest that a develop-
er would initiate an action against
itself, or its contractors and design
professionals, prior to transitioning
control to the unit owners. Though, in
certain circumstances, this is precisely
what
Palisades
requires to preserve
the association’s claims against the
developer’s contractors and design
professionals. Oddly,
Palisades
also
flies in the face of decisions by the
New Jersey Appellate Division, where
the courts refused to let the determina-
tion of statutes of repose and limitation
turn on fact-sensitive determinations
and various analytic approaches to
construction stages.
3
Yet,
Palisades
does just that by charging the unit
owner controlled association with the
knowledge of the developer and the
subsequent task of determining when,
if at all, the developer knew of vari-
ous construction defects to preserve
its claims. Thus,
Palisades
ushers in
uncertainty with respect to the accrual
of the six-year statute of limitations.
Many reading this may say, “So
what, the developer is responsible
and will still have to pay for the con-
struction defects.” While it is true that
the condominium association would
CONSTRUCTION
DEFECTS...
from page 35.
CONT I NU E S ON PAGE 39
"...in such circumstances,
the developer is likely
a single purpose entity
with little to no assets."