D.R. Horton, which bills itself as “America’s largest new home builder,” is appealing a federal judge’s decision to send a potential class-action lawsuit alleging widespread, humidity-induced structural damage back to state court in Louisiana.
The Texas-based company on Oct. 6 filed its intention with the U.S. Fifth District Court of Appeals to challenge federal Judge Brian Jackson’s order. Jackson had largely sided with the plaintiffs Alicia and West Dixon, who launched their litigation in 2022 after discovering defects in their Lafayette Parish home that allegedly resulted from poor attic ventilation and a defective heating, ventilation and air conditioning system.
“Plaintiffs allege that after moving into their new home, they experienced numerous problems, including excess moisture and humidity levels, water intrusion, damaged drywall, rampant mold and mildew, and an ‘inability for their home to cool down during the hot summer months,’” Jackson’s Sept. 29 opinion states.
D.R. Horton had argued that the federal courts should hear the case, rather than the 19th Judicial District Court in East Baton Rouge Parish, where it was initially filed. Jackson agreed that the homebuilder had established jurisdiction of the case under the federal Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA). But he concluded D.R. Horton’s argument came well after a 30-day deadline to file its motion and that a “local controversy exception” within CAFA applied to the plaintiffs’ case.
Plaintiffs’ attorney Lance Unglesby said no national issues have arisen from the case and that the lawsuit argues the D.R. Horton homes in question were simply not built to withstand Louisiana’s humidity.
“This is a very local, Louisiana-specific case,” Unglesby told the Louisiana Record.
Middle District of Louisiana Judge Jackson’s decision to send the case back to state court will shine the light on alleged structural defects and give homeowners better access to the legal system, according to Unglesby.
“It's significant because it will allow the case to start moving forward again," he said. “... We will be moving for a class action and a class-certification hearing” in East Baton Rouge.
Hundreds of people in Louisiana are potentially affected by the allegations in the lawsuit, according to Unglesby. The desired humidity levels within these homes is 50% to 55%, but the humidity levels where damage occurred exceeded 65%, he said, leading to environments encouraging mold growth.
“So far, we have seen systemic defects from Lake Charles to Slidell,” Unglesby said, adding that he expects proceedings to happen in the 19th District in the next few weeks.
He said D.R. Horton’s appeal to the U.S. Fifth District should not take a lot of time to resolve.
The homebuilder did not respond to a request for comment on the litigation.
Another defendant in the case is Bell Mechanical, one of the subcontractors that installed HVAC equipment in the D.R. Horton homes in question.
CAFA provides for federal jurisdiction over certain interstate class actions, according to Jackson’s decision.
“Specifically, CAFA establishes federal jurisdiction where the proposed class is at least 100 members, minimal diversity exists between the parties, the amount in controversy exceeds $5 million and the primary defendants are not state actors,” the judge said.
But CAFA does allow a federal court to abstain from a case “that uniquely affects a particular locality to the exclusion of all others,” Jackson said.