Arthur L. and Irma J. Sewell v. Paul G. Gregory, Sr.

Summary

The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia reversed the Circuit Court of Berkeley County's dismissal of a subsequent home purchaser's claims against the builder-vendor of a house that flooded. The court held that privity of contract is not required for tort claims, that a builder owes a common law duty of reasonable care to subsequent purchasers foreseeable as owners, and that the implied warranties of habitability and fitness recognized in Gamble v. Main for new homes extend to second and subsequent purchasers for a reasonable length of time after construction, limited to latent defects not discoverable by reasonable inspection. The court also held that the two-year statute of limitations for the tort claims is a jury question under the discovery rule. Justice Neely dissented, arguing the implied warranty should not extend to used homes because Dawson was limited to mass-produced goods, and that economic-loss claims sound in contract rather than tort.