Couple gets $200,000 for damaged Diego house

A COUPLE was yesterday awarded more than $200,000 in damages and costs by the Court of Appeal for damage to their house in Diego Martin. Winston and Judith Barrow were awarded $120,000 in damages along with interest at the rate of three percent per annum from May 26, 1988 to September 28, 2000. They were also awarded another six percent from September 2000 to the date of judgment. The Appeal Court also ordered the defendants, Michael Joseph Deosaran and Housing and Investments Ltd to pay the costs. The Barrows were originally awarded $95,000 in damages by Justice Allan Mendonca in the Port-of-Spain High Court. But Deosaran and his company appealed, while the Barrows cross-appealed on the quantum of damages. The Court of Appeal, comprising Justices Margot Warner, Wendell Kangaloo and Stanley John, unanimously agreed to dismiss Deosaran’s appeal and increase the award of damages.

In 1961, members of the Jutagir family owned a parcel of land comprising two acres and 14 perches at Diego Martin. They obtained planning permission to subdivide it into building lots, each comprising 5,000 square feet. In 1974, Deosaran and his company purchased the entire parcel and continued to develop the land by establishing roads, putting the infrastructure in place and obtaining the necessary statutory approvals. In 1979, in response to a newspaper advertisement, the Barrows offered to purchase from Deosaran, a lot of land with a house at a total price of $225,000. The house was completed in March 1980, but three years later, cracks began to appear on both the structure and superstructure of the house. Part of the boundary wall became contorted and had to be replaced.

The Barrows filed a claim with the insurers who sent an engineer to the site. He discovered vegetable fill some five feet under the surface. With the changes in the water content, the engineer felt that the soil would shift, therefore making occupancy difficult. The insurers settled the claim for $51,482. The Barrows did repairs to the house and to the foundation. In 1985, repairs were completed and the property was leased to the Government for occupation by its employee. The problems however, resurfaced. Cracks appeared once more in several areas of the house. Justice Mendonca dismissed Deosaran’s contention that the damage to the Barrows’ house was caused by blasting in a nearby quarry.

In her judgment, Justice Warner said it was clear that the Barrows accepted that Deosaran and his company undertook all aspects of the work, from the ground up and from start to completion. In the final analysis, she said the trial judge’s finding that Deosaran and his company were in breach of their duty of care can be supported on the evidence. On the issue of damages, Justice Warner did not accept the valuator’s price of the house as being $400,000. She pointed out that the Barrows bought the house for $225,000 but sold it for $130,000. “I have serious reservations about that conclusion and ultimately, his finding that the value of the house in 1983 was $400,000.”