Lombard Consulting Helps Obtain Defense Award

Scott Audiss was retained as a defense expert on a case where a home buyer claimed the seller intentionally failed to disclose a prior water leak in presale documents. The buyer, upon replacing flooring immediately after the purchase, discovered what appeared to be water damage behind some baseboards. In a following conversation with the seller, the buyer learned that there had been a refrigerator water leak ten years prior, of which had been remediated within a 24-hour period. The buyer then engaged a water restoration contractor to evaluate the conditions and they reported high moisture readings, asserting the source was trapped water from the event ten years prior, causing continued damage.

Scott, a licensed general contractor in California, Nevada, and Arizona with over 20 years of experience in construction, consulting and forensic investigations, reviewed numerous documents including the plaintiff expert’s report, work, costs, and photos as well as the buyer’s inspection report. His experience led him to opine that any elevated moisture could not be a result of a leak that was addressed within 24 hours and over ten years ago. Scott’s scrutiny of the reports and documents found evidence that there were other more plausible sources for the moisture which the arbitrator found credible and convincing. As a result, the arbitrator found for the defendant with no award to the plaintiff.