Thursday, October 1, 2015

Jury awards $20M against homebuilder



A $20 million verdict has been handed down against Pulte Homes and some of its affiliates involving the Applecross Country Club in Downingtown, Pa.

A jury in Chester County returned the verdict Monday after a trial.


The case was filed September 2012 by Applecross Club Operations against Pulte Homes of Pennsylvania and Pulte Homes Corp. of Delaware Valley and another Pulte Homes entity for breach of contract. It alleged the homebuilder had “induced it to purchase and operate a champion golf course and luxury country club facilities by promising to build over 1,000 residential homes in a planned community sprawling across two townships in Chester County, East Brandywine Township and West Brandywine Township,” according to a statement issued by Elliott Greenleaf & Siedzikowski, the law firm that represented the plaintiff.

Fewer than two years after Applecross Club Operations bought the golf and country club, Pulte decided not to build 375 residential units in West Brandywine and therefore resulted in a breach of contract, according to the plaintiff's lawyers. This caused Applecross Club Operations to loose “millions of dollars in lost revenues and profits from country club memberships.”

Pulte (NYSE: PHM) countered, saying it never agreed to build more than 1,000 homes nor a portion of the community in West Brandywine. A jury found that Pulte did agree to construct more than 1,000 houses including a portion in West Brandywine.

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