You Go First. No, After You.

Civil Code §910 requires a homeowner to serve notice of a construction defect claim to commence the prelitigation process before bringing a lawsuit. But §912 requires the builder to provide certain documents. The homeowners claimed they needed the documents before they could comply with §910, and the builder claimed it wasn’t required to provide the documents until the homeowner complied with the prelitigation process. The trial court sided with the builder and stayed the action until the homeowners complied with §910. The appellate court was presented with a question of first impression:  “must homeowners serve notice of a construction defect claim under [Civil Code] section 910, subdivision (a) for a builder to be obligated to respond to their request for documents under section 912, subdivision (a)?” The Court of Appeal denied the homeowners’ request for extraordinary relief, stating: “We conclude that a homeowner must serve notice of a construction defect claim under section 910, subdivision (a) to commence the statutory prelitigation procedure, and until such service the builder has no obligation to respond to a request for documents under section 912, subdivision (a).” Darling v. Sup. Ct. (Western Pacific Housing, Inc.) (Cal. App. First Dist., Div. 5; November 16, 2012) 211 Cal.App.4th 69.