Monday, June 22, 2009

Earth fissure lawsuit dismissed


The Arizona Appeals Court dismissed a lawsuit against real estate agents by a property buyer over Earth fissures, because there wasn’t evidence the agents knew about the hazard, according to an article in the Arizona Republic.

Joan Etzenhouser of Queen Creek reportedly argued there was ample evidence of Earth fissures in the area and the agents should have warned her before she bought her home in 2004. [right, Chandler Heights study area map of Earth fissures. AZGS]

As I read the article, it wasn't clear whether this is a significant statement about liability or rather it refers more to the adequacy of the complaint by the homeowner. I'd like to see more legal analysis of the court's decision.

State law passed in 2006, protects real estate agents from liability if they use or refer buyers to the AZGS Earth fissure maps for an area, and AZGS made the Queen Creek area our first priority.

1 comment:

  1. very interesting case, I want to use it as an example in a class I'm writing - thanks

    ReplyDelete