Jimmy L. Anderson, Carol A. Anderson, and Heritage Village Development, Inc., a Wyoming Corporation, Appellants…

Summary

The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part judgments arising from water seepage into eight newly built homes. It held the homeowners' claims against Campbell County were barred by the four-year statute of limitations because they accrued when seepage damage was first noticed in 1978, while the claims against the builder and developer were timely. The court announced that a subdivider-developer owes a duty of reasonable care to furnish lots suitable for some ordinary dwelling and to disclose known unsuitable conditions, found the developer met that duty and reversed the judgment against it, but affirmed the builders' liability for negligence and breach of the implied warranty of habitability in constructing basements below the water table. On the cross-appeal it upheld the damage awards, holding that repair costs for unrepaired damage are measured at the time of trial and diminished value as of the date of injury, the trial court's 1983 valuation error being harmless.