Three separate lawsuits accuse Toll Brothers, a national company that bills itself as America’s luxury builder, of leaving behind a litany of construction defects when it turned over Jupiter Country Club in 2019.
The Jupiter Country Club Homeowners Association, two condominium associations and FedNat Insurance company are suing the Fort Washington, Pennsylvania-based homebuilder in Palm Beach Circuit Court, according to The Palm Beach Post.
Jupiter Country Club is an upscale golf community in Jupiter made up of 407 single-family homes and 148 condos, with some homes selling for more than $2 million.
Toll Brothers is very active in South Florida. In February, the developer launched sales for a new single-family home community in Davie called Millstone Ranches. The 18-home development will be made up of one-and-two story homes starting above $1 million.
The associations are seeking court rulings that would force Toll Brothers to fix defects found in individual homes, infrastructure such as gas lines and storm drains, and common areas of Jupiter Country Club, including lakes and sidewalks, the Palm Beach Post reported.
The HOA claimed Toll Brothers did not properly manage the community when the firm controlled the association, and that the company did not provide a required audit at the time of turnover.
Another lawsuit claims that an engineering report commissioned by the two condo associations found defective balconies and stucco walls, cracked baseboards and drywall, improperly installed insulation and the presence of radon gas, according to the Palm Beach Post.
In the third lawsuit, FedNat Insurance Company claimed Toll Brothers is responsible for a pipe bursting inside a wall of a single-family home by failing to properly install a water supply line. The insurer alleges a flood caused $126,000 of damage and wants Toll Brothers to reimburse the claim FedNat paid out.
In filings responding to the association lawsuits, Toll Brothers claims that the developer was not given the opportunity to make repairs, and that the associations were negligent in mitigating the damages and properly maintaining the common areas after the turnover, the Palm Beach Post reported.
[The Palm Beach Post] — Francisco Alvarado