Judge bombs Vista Lakes case

My local news made much of the revelation that the "Vista Lakes" subdivision and surrounding developments were built adjacent to a WWII-era bombing range and that the purchasers of homes in those developments did not learn about the range until it was too late. Property values fell (probably in part due to self-fulfilling media reports of potentially falling property values), and one resident sued several entities including Ryland Homes and the original developer of Vista Lakes.

The Honorable Judge Presnell of the US Distric Court for the Middle District of Florida has held that the plaintiffs case does not create liability under common law negligence. The court recognized that Florida law allows for novel negligence claims, but did not find one in this case. Virgilio v. Ryland Group, Inc., --- F.Supp.2d ----, 2010 WL 503023.

Specifically, the court held found no "affirmative duty on a developer, or on an entity that promotes a residential development, to publicly disclose material facts that may negatively affect the economic value of a home that the developer did not build, own or sell." Furthermore, a party that markets but does not directly sell the property to the purchaser does not have a duty to disclose facts materially affecting value of property which are not readily observable and are not known to purchaser but result only in loss in market value.

If someone drives over an unexploded shell and it explodes, then she might have a negligence cause of action.