Court Says Homeowners MUST Provide Expert Testimony to Prove Construction-Related / Water-Intrusion Claims

This case involved a dispute between a condominium owner (“Owner”) and his homeowners association (“Association”) and related repair vendors over chronic water intrusion issues that allegedly caused damage to Owner’s condominium and Owner’s claims that necessary repairs were mishandled by the defendants, resulting in damages to Owner.

Because the issues had not been resolved to Owner’s satisfaction, he filed suit against the defendant’s alleging claims for: negligence; breach of contract (based on the CC&Rs and an alleged verbal agreement with the HOA’s president); declaratory relief; and personal injuries due to mold, contamination, hazardous materials, and loss of use.

Prior to trial, Owner designated one expert witness, a fungus expert, that he intended to rely on for testimony at the time of trial. At deposition, the expert testified that he was not qualified to state opinions on plumbing, construction, HVAC, water-intrusion causes, remediation standards, or building practices.

At the time of trial, the defendants filed a motion in: