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Blake v. John Doe 16/29/1993
DESHLER, Judge.
This is an appeal by plaintiffs, Brian R. Blake and Suzanne R. Blake, from a judgment of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas dismissing their complaint upon motion by defendants, Harmut and Margot Handke, pursuant to Civ.R. 12(B)(6).
The facts of this case are primarily concerned with the history of appellants' home, a single-family residence built in 1959. The first occupants of the house were Harold and Grace Williams, who purchased it from the builder. During their ownership, the house eventually showed signs of settling, including cracks in the foundation, basement floor, and upstairs walls and ceiling. The Williamses hired an engineering firm to investigate the problem. After performing two test borings to determine soil consistency, the engineer concluded that the house was built upon unstable footing, including naturally compressible organic soils. The report concluded that further settling could not be ruled out, although it was possible that the soils in question had compacted to the point of stability. The report went on to propose some techniques of pouring concrete piers under the existing foundation to a sufficient depth to reach harder ground. This procedure would have entailed a substantial expense. The alternative solution involved minor patching as walls shifted, and continued monitoring for more serious structural instability.
The Williamses did not undertake any major work to stabilize the house and, in 1978, sold the house to the Handkes without advising them of the settling problems. After the Handkes became aware of the structural instability of thshouse, they brought suit against the Williamses. During discovery proceedings, the Handkes became aware of the prior subsurface soil condition testing done by the Williamses. The Handkes also hired their own experts to conduct further inspections of the house. One of these inspections revealed that, in addition to being built on soft soils, at least part of the foundation footer was inadequately constructed.
The Handkes eventually accepted a settlement and dismissed their lawsuit against the Williamses. Thereafter, the Handkes appear to have undertaken no substantial measures to solidify or stabilize their home's foundation.
In 1986, the Handkes sold the property to Thomas and Cheryl Coffman. The Handkes did not inform the Coffmans of their previous problems with the house, of the unstable soil conditions, or of the lawsuit and resulting settlement with the Williamses. The Coffmans lived in the house approximately two years. Their deposition testimony in this case indicated that although the Coffmans did observe some existing cracks and misaligned doors in the house, they were never made aware that these conditions reflected any fundamental instability in the structure, or the potential for further deterioration.
The Coffmans sold the house to the Blakes, the plaintiffs and appellants herein, in 1988. The Blakes eventually recognized the extent and severity of the structural problems associated with the shifting foundation of the house as well as the extent to which the prior owners were aware of the problem and the past legal action brought by the Handkes against the Williamses. The Blakes filed this action on March 26, 1992 against the Williamses, Handkes and Coffmans as prior owners who had failed to disclose the defect and against the builder of the house as John Doe, for negligence in construction, and against various realtors and house inspectors involved in the Blakes' purchase of the house.
The Handkes moved to be dismissed from the case under Civ.R. 12(B)(6), because the Blakes' complaint failed to sta
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