eNotes: Liability – February 2024 – Washington DC

SIGNIFICANT CASE SUMMARIES

Washington DC Case Summary

Nicklin v. Stonesdale Unit Owners’ Ass’n
District of Columbia Court of Appeals
2024 D.C. App. LEXIS 4

Decided January 11, 2024

Mandatory repair clauses in contracts may delay the initiation of the statute of limitations beyond the time when an injury is discovered or should have reasonably been discovered.

Background

Plaintiff owned a condo unit. After purchase, Plaintiff experienced several problems with his home, including issues regarding the foundation, sewage, drainage, the gutters, stucco/mortar, the roof and the windows.

Plaintiff sued his condominium association and other individual condo owners, seeking damages, declaratory relief, and injunctive relief, for violations of the D.C. Condominium Act (the “Act”), breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and negligence. The condo association filed a Motion for summary judgment on statute of limitations grounds. Defendant argued that Plaintiff knew of these issues “no later than March 10, 2017” and, consequently, the suit was time-barred. Summary judgment was granted on this ground. An appeal followed.

Holding

The Court of Appeals reversed the entry of summary judgment on the breach of contract claim. The Court of Appeals held that because the association had a contractual duty to repair certain damages in the condominium under the bylaws and other condominium instruments, it could not use its own delay in repairing the damage as a shield to then assert that the statute of limitations barred the Complaint. Plaintiff was bound by that contract to give the association an opportunity to perform the repairs first and, because the association failed to make those repairs in a timely fashion, the statute of limitations did not begin to run until Plaintiff had constructive notice that the Defendants had breached the bylaws. Thus, in determining when the statute of limitations begins to run in an action involving a repair clause, courts must look to when the plaintiff had constructive notice of the defendant’s breach of the duty to repair.

Questions about this case can be directed to Matt Ainsley at (202) 945-9506 or mainsley@tthlaw.com.