Court Opinion

ID: 9646420
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 12:59:44.776296+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:11:38.015528
License: Public Domain

*170SPEARS, Justice,
concurring.
I concur in the opinion of the majority, but would go further in discussing the parameters of the cause of action. This was a case of first impression in Texas, and we have created a new cause of action; therefore, I believe it is our duty to give some guidance to the courts and the parties involved on how to proceed in the trial court.
Texas is not the first state to extend the implied warranty of habitability to subsequent purchasers. The supreme courts of six states have recognized the cause of action and limited the implied warranty to latent defects which are not discoverable upon a reasonable inspection. Blagg v. Fred Hunt Co., 272 Ark. 185, 612 S.W.2d 321 (Ark.1981); Redarowicz v. Ohlendorf, 92 Ill.2d 171, 65 Ill.Dec. 411, 441 N.E.2d 324 (Ill.1982); Barnes v. Mac Brown & Co., 264 Ind. 227, 342 N.E.2d 619 (Ind.1976); Elden v. Simmons, 631 P.2d 739 (Okl.1982); Terlinde v. Neely, 275 S.C. 395, 271 S.E.2d 768 (S.C.1980); Moxley v. Laramie Builders, Inc., 600 P.2d 733 (Wyo.1979). Five of the six have done so since 1979. The reasoning and public policy arguments used by these courts in recognizing the cause of action are identical to the ones addressed by the majority. As ably stated by the Wyoming court in Moxley v. Laramie Builders, Inc., 600 P.2d 733, 736 (Wyo.1979):
The purpose of a warranty is to protect innocent purchasers and hold builders accountable for their work. With that object in mind, any reasoning which would arbitrarily interpose a first buyer as an obstruction to someone equally as deserving of recovery is incomprehensible.
Id. at 736.
Our extension of liability is limited to latent defects which manifest themselves after the purchase, and are not discoverable by a subsequent purchaser’s reasonably prudent inspection at the time of sale. The majority merely recognizes the cause of action, thereby reversing the summary judgment and allowing the cause to proceed to trial on the merits. In trial, the plaintiff has the burden of proving a latent defect which is attributable to the actions or inac-tions of the builder/seller. The builder has all the traditional contract defenses available to him including the defense that the defects are not attributable to original structural flaws. For example, the builder could escape liability by pleading and proving there has been substantial change or alteration in the condition of the house since the original sale, misuse, or that the defects could have been discovered by reasonably prudent inspection of the house.
Latent defects in a house often will not manifest themselves for some period of time, very likely, after the original owner has sold the property to a subsequent buyer. In our very mobile society a builder/seller should know a house he builds might be resold within a very short period of time; therefore, our extension of the implied warranty should not place any extra burdens on builders. With these additions I concur in the opinion and result of the majority.
RAY, J., joins in this concurring opinion.