1000 Grandview Ass'n v. Mt. Washington Associates, 290 Pa. Super. 365

Summary

The Pennsylvania Superior Court held that a condominium association had representational standing to sue developers for alleged breaches of express and implied warranties concerning defects in the condominium's common areas. The court held that the construction lender, as a mere lender of construction funds, could not be held liable for construction quality. The lower court's order was affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.

Holdings

1. A condominium association may have representational standing to assert the rights of its individual unit-owner members when it alleges that one or more members suffered immediate, direct, and substantial injury and individual participation is not indispensable to resolving the claim.
2. A construction lender that merely provides construction financing cannot be held liable for the quality of construction on that basis alone and was not shown to be a joint venturer with the developers.
3. The association's allegations of express and implied warranty breaches involving defects in the condominium's common areas were sufficient to allege direct injury for standing purposes and could not be rejected solely because the association, rather than individual unit owners, brought the action.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a condominium association may assert representational standing on behalf of its unit-owner members when the complaint alleges immediate, direct, and substantial pecuniary injury to those members.
2. Whether the construction lender could be held liable as a joint venturer or for construction-quality defects merely because it provided construction financing.
3. Whether the association's warranty and construction-defect allegations were sufficient to survive preliminary objections.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded