Document for Candace Dekkert vs Paul Latala, et al

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                                JOHN P. HANNON II

Law Offices of John P. Hannon II
SB No: 111692

716 Capitola Avenue, Ste. F
Capitola, CA 95010

PH: (831) 476-8005

FAX: (831) 476-8984

E-mail: jph3002@yahoo.com

Attorney for Plaintiff:
CANDACE DEKKERT

IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

COUNTY OF SANTA CRUZ
CANDACE DEKKERT, ) CASE NO.: 20CV02691
)
Plaintiff, )
) FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT
v. ) FOR DAMAGES
) (Breach of Contract; Construction
PAUL LATALA; LATALA HOMES, INC., ) Defect)
(a California corporation); TUAN ANH )
PHAN; DOMINIKA PIETRYGA; M&J )
CUSTOM CONSTRUCTION, INC. (a )
California corporation); XAVIER )
SANCHEZ CONSTRUCTION (a business)
Entity form unknown); and DOES, 1 )
through 20, inclusive, )
)
Defendants. )
)
COMMON ALLEGATIONS

1. Plaintiff, Candace Dekkert (hereinafter “Dekkert”) is the owner of real property which
bears the common address of 170 Belvedere Terrace, City of Santa Cruz, County of Santa Cruz,
State of California (hereinafter “subject property”).

2. Plaintiff is informed and believe and thereon alleges that Defendant, Latale Homes,

Inc., (hereinafter “Latala”) is a corporation which is organized under the laws of the State of
California. In doing the things hereinafter alleged on said Defendant did said acts in the County of

Santa Cruz, State of California.Bw NY

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3. Plaintiff is informed and believes and thereon alleges that Defendants, Paul Latala,
Tuan Anh Phan and Dominika Pietryga are either residents of the County of Santa Cruz, State of
California or did the acts alleged below in the County of Santa Cruz, State of California.

4. Plaintiff is informed and believes and thereon alleges that Defendant, M&J Custom
Construction, Inc., (hereinafter “M&J”) is a corporation licensed under the laws of the State of
California and, in doing the things hereinafter alleged, did such acts in the County of Santa Cruz,
State of California.

5. Plaintiff is informed and believes and thereon alleges that Defendant, Xavier Sanchez
Construction (hereinafter “XSC”) is a business entity, form unknown. In doing the things
hereinafter alleged, XSC did such acts in the County of Santa Cruz, State of California.

6. Plaintiff is unaware of the true names and identities of those individuals sued herein as
DOES | through 20, inclusive. At such time as Plaintiff becomes aware of the true names and
identities of such fictitiously named defendants, Plaintiff will pray leave of the court to amend the
complaint accordingly.

7. Each of the Defendants sued herein was the agent, assignee or employee of the
remaining Defendants and, in doing the things hereinafter alleged, did said acts within the course
and scope of such agency, assignment, or employment.

FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION
(Breach of Contract)

8. On or about November 11, 2019, Dekkert purchased the subject property from
Defendants Tuan Anh Phan and Dominika Pietryga (hereinafter “Sellers”). A copy of the
purchase contract with amendments is attached hereto as Exhibit A and made a part hereof.

9. As part of the purchase of the subject property, Sellers are required to provide a
complete statement of all material facts which might affect the value of the subject property. Such
a disclosure is required by common law as well as Civil Code section 1102. The duty to disclose
material facts that affect value, is an affirmative duty imposed upon the Sellers and includes the
obligation imposed on Sellers to perform a reasonably diligent inspection of the subject property

and to disclose the fruits of such inspection.wn

11
12

10. Sellers breached the contract between the parties by failing to adequately disclose that
the subject property was flooded due to inadequate construction and drainage. While Sellers
disclosed that there was a sump pump under the structure, they failed to disclose that the sump
pump was not placed where the flooding occurs or that the pump was insufficient to handle the
degree of flooding. Indeed, Sellers failed to disclose that there was inadequate drainage that
resulted in frequent and pervasive flooding of the subject property.

11. Dekkert has complied with all material terms of the contract between the parties.

12. As a proximate result of the failure of Sellers to adequately disclose all material
defects in the subject property that effect value, Dekkert purchased the subject property. The
purchase of the subject property by Dekkert was in an amount in excess of the fair market value
and subject to the cost of repairs. Had Dekkert been fully informed of all material facts, she would
not have purchased the subject property and not suffered the damages as set forth below.

13. Had Dekkert been aware of the true condition of the subject property, she would not
have paid the amount as set forth in the contract or would have discounted the purchase price to
reflect the lower value of the home due to it being the subject of pervasive and catastrophic
flooding as well as the costs of remediation of the flooding problem.

14. As a proximate result of the actions of Sellers, Plaintiff has suffered damages in the
amount that the property sold for in excess of its fair market value, the cost of repairs and the loss
of future value of sale when future potential purchasers are informed that the subject property is
subject to flooding. The total damages proximately suffered by Dekkert are not completely known
at this time, but are in excess of $1,000,000.00.

15. Dekkert has attempted to provide notice to Sellers of the breach of the contract as
required by paragraph 22 of the contract. (A true and correct copy of this request for mediation is
attached hereto as Exhibit B and made a part hereof.) Notice of the pending claims of Plaintiff
were sent by UPS delivery on November 24, 2020, to the last known address of Sellers. However,
the notice of the pending action could not be served as Sellers have failed to provide an adequate
address after they moved from the subject property or have refused to accept delivery of the

notice.co 0

16. The contract for purchase provides for prevailing party attorney fees. In addition to
any other relief, demand is made for reasonable attorney fees and costs incurred in bringing the
present action.

Wherefore, Plaintiff prays for judgment as set forth below:

SECOND CAUSE OF ACTION
(Construction Defect)

17. Plaintiff hereby realleges paragraphs 1 through 16 as if fully set forth herein.

18. Dekkert is informed and believes and thereon alleges that Defendants, M&J, XSC.
Paul Latala and Latala Homes, Inc., (hereinafter “Builders”) their employees, officers and agents
caused patent and latent defects to the subject property. Additionally, Anh made improvements to
the subject property that were defective in nature. In particular, Dekkert is informed and believes
that said Defendants failed to design and build adequate drainage for the subject property.
Additionally, the subject property was constructed with the following defects.

A. Inadequate Ground Water Control resulting in significant moisture problems in the
crawlspace.

B. Hardscape settling due to inadequate soil compaction and improper drainage.

C. Improperly installed windows are leaking

D. Improper Tile Roof Deck repairs

E. Improper repairs to 9 windows worked on by Latala in 2019.

Further, said Defendants failed to adequately design and build the subject property so as to
prevent the inflow of water into the residence.

19. On information and belief, Dekkert alleges that other patent and latent defects in the
design, construction and improvements to the subject property exist which may or will be
discovered in the future.

20. On November 24, 2020, demand was made on Latala as required by Civil Code
section 910. (A copy of this demand is attached hereto as Exhibit C and made a part hereof.) No
response acknowledging receipt of this notice has been received within the time limit set forth in

Civil Code section 913.21. As alleged above, Dekkert has suffered damages to her property due to the various
defects in the home including, pervasive and catastrophic flooding the of the home, moisture in the
crawl space, leaking windows, improper tile roof deck repair and improper repairs to windows. .
As a proximate result of the actions of Defendants, Dekkert has suffered damage to the real
property, loss of use of the property and diminishment in value of the property in an amount

according to proof, but in a sum of not less than $1,000,000.00. Further, the value of the subject

property is diminished due to the fact that such flooding and the inadequate drainage will have to
be disclosed to future purchases.

22. The total amount of damages proximately eases caused by Defendants is not
precisely known at this time but is believed to be in excess of $1,000,000.00.

PRAYER FOR RELIEF

Plaintiff hereby prays for judgement against Defendants as follows:

4, For general and special damages as against Defendants Tuan Anh Phan and Dominika
Pietryga in the sum of $1,000,000.00;

2. For general and special damages as against Defendants Paul Latala and Latala Homes,
Inc., in the sum of $1,000.000.00;

3. For reasonable attorney fees;

4. For costs of suit incurred.

5. For such other and further relief as the court may deem just. _
a =a Ze —
Dated: “By Z
4 ( of 27 V JOHN P-HANNON II

‘Attorney for Plaintiff:
CANDACE DEKKERTPROOF OF SERVICE BY MAIL AND E-MAIL

The undersigned hereby declares that he/she is over the age of 18 years and not a party
to the action. The undersigned’s business address is 273 Knappton Road, Naselle, WA 98638.

On the date last written, the undersigned delivered the following document(s):

First Amended Complaint for Damages

by personally sending by mailing the listed documents by first class mail with the United States
Postal Service and e-mailing on the same date of signature hereto to the address(es) and e-
mail(s) set forth:

Nora R. Boardman

Law Offices of John A. Hauser
P.O. Box 2282

Brea, CA 92822-2282

Also sent via e-mail: Nora.Boardman@thehartford.com
Christopher Hogan
Erickson Arbuthnot
2300 Clayton Road, Suite 350
Concord, CA 94520

Also sent via e-mail: chogan@ericksenarbuthnot.com

Xavier Sanchez Construction
12785 Murphy Avenue, Suite D
San Martin, CA 95046

I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the
foregoing is true and correct.

Dated: fflcf 2 BY:

P. HANNON II