Beams holding up Wilmington's prominent, and partially government-funded, Christina Landing townhomes are rotting away.

The two companies behind limited warranties on the homes say insurance plans don't cover the particular defects that caused the rot.

The builder, the Buccini/Pollin Group, says it also isn't liable.

Meanwhile, residents of the Wilmington community that sparked the hope of urban renewal along the southern banks of the Christina River are fuming.

"We've been here nine years, and it's been nothing but heartache," resident Meghna Vara said in September while recounting a discovery of mold inside her home that she believes is linked to the disintegrating beams.

Lawsuit: Christina townhomes infected by structural rot

In the latest legal maneuver in a years-long class action fight over who should pay to replace rotting structural beams, attorneys for Buccini/Pollin argued in a motion last month that the court should discard claims against it of negligent construction, negligent repair and consumer fraud, among others.

That is because the original purchasers of the 63 townhomes in south Wilmington waived the right to sue when more than a decade ago they signed an application for a home builders warranty as part of the sale, Buccini/Pollin said.

If a Delaware judge rules in their favor, the case against Buccini/Pollin, Wilmington largest and most politically influential landowner, will be over.

If he denies the request, it will proceed to trial next March.

Within what plaintiffs have called stacks of "countless" closing documents was a clause in the application stating, "Seller shall not be liable for any personal injury or other consequential or secondary damages and/or losses which may arise from, or out of, any and all defects."

"Plaintiffs may not avail themselves of the benefits of the warranty and ignore the limitations," Buccini/Pollin attorney Art Aranila said in the court filing. "They cannot have it both ways."

In response to the latest filing, plaintiffs' attorney Kevin Guerke said the specific terms and limitations of the warranty were not disclosed to his clients, Jason and Amanda Jones, until two months after they bought their home for $384,945.

What the Joneses understood, Guerke said, was that BPG would provide a forthcoming free warranty that would "be a benefit, not harmful."

"Defendants played a shell game with vague and deceptive documents meant to coerce and trick unsuspecting homebuyers," he said.

Guerke said Buccini/Pollin is trying to end his "multimillion-dollar class action" by relying on a legal position that has no possibility of success.

In Buccini/Pollin's filing, Aranila said that what buyers did or did not know isn't relevant – they relinquished their rights to sue even if they "failed to inform (themselves) of the details."

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Tricky process

Over three years, the Christina Landing lawsuit has become a complex web of litigation, scooping up a litany of defendants, including two Colorado home warranty companies, four Delaware contractors, and two subsidiaries of the Buccini/Pollin Group.

The homes, built in 2004 and 2005 with the help of millions of taxpayer dollars, feature stately second-and third-floor enclosed terraces. A vapor barrier, ice and water guard and metal flashing were to be installed around the skeleton of the structures to keep them watertight.

Yet in 2008, as the housing bubble nationally was bursting, the roofs of many of the still-new homes began to leak, according to court documents.

Buccini/Pollin, in a court filing, said it sent workers in to patch the leaks, but denied that the repairs were “to address widespread leaks and related problems stemming from defective construction.”

The Jones claim that those contractors exacerbated the rot because they directed "additional water into the wood-framed wall."

“Repairs were defective," the lawsuit states.

Today, the beams holding up those terraces are disintegrating after "systemic concealed defects" allowed water to seep into the structures, according to the lawsuit.

The Jones' house "is in danger of collapse," according to their lawsuit.

"All sixty-three (63) townhouses in the community suffer from the same structural defects and damage," the suit claims.

Guerke declined to comment for this story but in March, he told The News Journal that it is a "tricky and complex process" to fix the defects within each house,

“A contractor has to deconstruct the wall cavity to remove both structural beams, which hold up the terraces, replace them and then rebuild the wall without taking the entire front of the house apart,” he said.

Delaware Superior Court Judge William C. Carpenter Jr. in May certified the suit as a class action, despite Buccini/Pollin's opposition.

Buccini/Pollin spokesman Michael Hare said the warranty is standard in the industry.

"The dispute is over whether the warranty company is liable for the damages," he said.

Colorado-based Home Buyers Warranty Corp. and National Home Insurance Company, – which together manage the Christina Landing home warranties – also are named as defendants.

Buccini/Pollin filed a cross-claim against the National Home Insurance Company “for failure to honor its warranty.”

A hope of urban renewal

The Townhomes at Christina Landing, when built across from the Wilmington train station, were marketed as a place for suburbanites to join a back-to-the-city movement,

The homes sold out in just eight weeks in 2004, even before construction was complete.

Many of those then were resold for a quick profit with sale prices well above $400,000. In one case, an investor made $150,000 by selling the property days after purchasing it, according to a News Journal report from 2006.

“I made a lot of people a lot of money,” Buccini/Pollin partner Robert Buccini said at the time.

The quick sale during the buildup to the country’s housing boom was seen as a momentous step forward by state officials, who called the development a "public-private project of great importance to the economic vitality of Wilmington and the state."

Much was at stake for those elected officials who had directed hundreds of millions of dollars to the redevelopment of the Riverfront area, defined as 139 different tax parcels on both sides of the river.

They also spent about $25 million from taxpayers to accommodate the construction of the larger Christina Landing development, which included the townhomes, as well as their adjacent high-rise residential buildings.

It included $8.5 million for the reconstruction of A Street, $6.5 million for the Christina Landing parking garage, $2.4 million for a bulkhead along the river, $4.1 million for a Riverwalk and park between the bulkhead and the townhomes, $2 million for environmental cleanup, $1.4 million for new streets and sidewalks, and $500,000 for water and sewer lines

The Delaware Economic Development Office granted $300,000 of state money directly to the construction of the townhomes, themselves.

The contractors

In the event Buccini/Pollin is held liable, it was its contractors, not BPG, who carried out any potentially poor construction, Aranila has said in documents.

BPG filed a counter-claim against those contractors, Diamond State Masonry Co., East Coast Siding, Inc., J&B Caulkers, Inc., and Sun Builders, Inc.

In June, a judge dismissed all claims against J&B Caulkers.

Diamond State, in its legal response, denied culpability, stating that if it is found to be liable for damages, it will file a cross-claim against Buccini/Pollin and the warranty companies “on the grounds that the conduct of (those) co-defendants was the primary cause of the injuries and/or damages.”

In October, it followed up with its own pending motion for summary judgement.

The tangled web of legal claims expanded to federal court where National Home Insurance Company and Home Buyers Warranty Corp. filed a suit petitioning the court to force the parties to arbitrate the matter.

The federal court ruled in March that the petition will be held “pending resolution of the claims” in state court.

Contact Karl Baker at kbaker@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2329. Follow him on Twitter @kbaker6.