Montco Home Builder Found Guilty Of Negligent Construction

A Montgomery County builder has been found guilty and liable of construction costs for a new home which was not resistant to the weather.

Homeowners purchased a home in the area from the Cutler Group, a Plymouth-based construction firm that allegedly promised the Montgomery Township homeowners that skilled tradesmen had built the property.

However, the $646,500 home began leaking water within thirty days of the family moving in, their attorneys said. Cutler ignored the complaints of the family, who reported the issue to authorities and took them to court.

The Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office also filed charges against Cutler in Oct. 2016, seeking restitution for multiple consumers, in addition to civil penalties, and a permanent injunction.

When the home was inspected, attorneys said they discovered Cutler had not used modern techniques to construct the home's exterior, and the entire house failed to meet "basic township building code requirements."

The cost to replace the entire exterior of the home was estimated at $161,700, attorneys said.

A jury trial in Montgomery County under Judge Thomas P. Rogers began on Oct. 10. On Oct. 12, Cutler was found liable for the $161,700, and found guilty of charges of breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty of habitability, and breach of implied warranty of workmanship.

"The costs to correct this damage can easily exceed $100,000 per home," Beemer said at the time. "It is extremely important for new home builders to adhere to accepted industry practices, which leaves consumers with the peace of mind that their homes have been properly built. We are pursuing this lawsuit, in part, to protect consumers from this conduct in the future."

Describing themselves as "the largest privately held residential builder in the Delaware Valley," The Cutler Group has properties in communities around the region.

Anyone who believes they may have been harmed by the actions of The Cutler Group is asked to call the Bureau of Consumer Protection at 1-800-441-2555.

Editor's note: a previous version of this story incorrectly stated that the home in question was located in East Vincent Township. It was located in Montgomery Township.

Patch file photo