Message from Favil West, 10 December 2006, Anthem Compendium
Good Evening
Just over a month ago, a number of you received a Certified Letter from Del Webb/Pulte Homes describing the possibility that you may have Kitec brass plumbing fittings manufactured by IPEX Inc. as part of the plumbing system included in your house. Del Webb/Pulte Homes included in that letter a copy of a class action lawsuit filed on the alleged defect, as well as a form to send back if you wanted an inspection to determine if this system is in your house. Hopefully, all of you sent that request for inspection back to Del Webb/Pulte Homes .
It is our understanding that these fittings may have been installed in as many as 3000 houses here in SCA. While we are not sure what the order of inspection is, we understand that they are inspecting houses on a daily basis.
Last week many of you received a letter from the class action attorney describing the alleged defect and advising you that unless you send back the form included you will become part of the class action. The form is an opt out form which means that you must send it back to them or you will be automatically included in the action. Our advice at this point is to do nothing with that letter until after the residents meeting to be held January 4th, 2007.
The board had, up until last week, declined to become involved in this matter as clearly, it is a homeowner/developer issue. At the request of literally hundreds of our resident the board directed me to investigate and report. The board further directed that a legal opinion be obtained with respect to the limits of participation of the board without exposing the association to any liability.
In order to become informed on this matter, elements of the board met with the class action lawyers last week. The board will meet with our attorney the first of the week, then with Del Webb/Pulte Homes. The board will no doubt seek input from other sources prior to meeting with the residents on January 4, 2007, 7:00 p.m., Hanneman Hall.
A number of our residents, whose houses have already been inspected, received a letter last week from Del Webb/Pulte Homes offered the resident “monetary compensation in the amount of $7,800.” They offered the names of contractors who would do the work as outlined in the letter which includes replacing the faulty fittings and/or, re-plumbing of the house from the overhead. What this means is that, if the offer is accepted by the resident, the resident will be the contracting party.
No doubt a number of people will be offering information and advice over the next couple of weeks. My recommendation at this point is to listen carefully, but do nothing prior to the residents meeting next month. By that time we will be able to gather as much information as possible and present it to you in a manner that will enable you to make a fully informed decision.
As a sidebar, most of the board members have received the above referenced letters and have requested the inspection. We will be doing nothing with respect to responding until after the residents meeting next month.
Be sure to watch the President’s report for the latest update on this issue.
Favil West