A Collinsville condominium association and a realty company deny liability in a property buyer’s suit alleging they failed to inform him that the property had drainage and flooding issues.
Raymond Muniz filed the complaint on Oct. 18 against Knightsbridge Villas Condominium Association, Laura Clark, Paula Wanous and Epic Realty LLC.
In his complaint, Muniz claims he purchased the property at issue for $206,000. However, he alleges he was not informed of the drainage and flooding problem.
Muniz alleges he discovered the issue on Aug. 9, 2015, when the home flooded, causing damage to the basement walls, baseboards, carpet and padding, furniture and a computer.
Muniz claims he spent countless hours cleaning, disinfecting and restoring the property, which he says took a considerable amount of time and expenses to fix the damage.
Muniz alleges the defendants failed to investigate the root cause of the drainage and flooding problem, failed to disclose the problem and failed to help owners investigate and resolve the issue.
Epic Realty LLC answered the complaint on Dec. 26 through John Cooney of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP in Edwardsville.
In its affirmative defenses, the defendant argues that the plaintiff’s own negligence was the sole proximate cause of any alleged injuries.
The defendant also argues that any alleged damage was the result of independent intervening causes over which it had no control and were not known or reasonably foreseeable.
Further, Epic Realty claims that “it is not aware that any of the statements it is alleged to have communicated to plaintiff was false, deceptive or misleading and it further states that it did not know at the time of any communication with plaintiff that any of the information provided to it by the sellers was false, deceptive or misleading,” the answer states.
Knightsbridge Villas Condominium Association answered the complaint on Nov. 22 through attorney Michael Murphy of Freeark Harvey & Mendillo PC in Belleville.
In its affirmative defenses, the defendant argues that Muniz’s own negligence caused any alleged damages.
Muniz seeks a judgment of more than $50,000, plus court costs and attorney’s fees.
He is represented in the suit by John Leskera of Leskera Law Firm in Collinsville.
Madison County Circuit Court case number 17-L-1449