5-30-08 A-6532-06T3
In 2001, plaintiffs brought a claim against their home builder under the New Home Warranty and Builders' Registration Act. One of plaintiffs' claims was related to a defective foundation wall. The Bureau of Homeowner Protection entered a decision, but gave plaintiffs the right to continue to monitor the wall for signs of movement or cracking. The wall continued to deteriorate and plaintiffs initiated a claim under the Act in 2004. Before that claim was adjudicated, they withdrew it and
filed suit in Superior Court against the builder and the architects.
The trial judge dismissed plaintiffs' claim on the grounds that the lawsuit was barred because of the Act's election of remedies provision. We reversed, finding that the plaintiffs' election to proceed under the Act was not knowing and voluntary,
and therefore the Act's election of remedies provisions did not preclude their Superior Court action.
