text:
Arts & social-sci students briefly forced to do useful work at Foxconn
A Chinese student forced to intern at Foxconn has complained that his two months on the gadget assembly line was like "military training" and unrelated to his degree, according to a local Chinese news site. A group of students at Xi'an Technological University have complained about having to do work with with the iPhone …
Hang on a cotton picking minute.....
"" Train fares, paying for bedding and telephone bills and other expenses mean that workers sometimes barely make a profit. ""........
Is this not just like every other worker on the planet ?
You work, you spend money on stuff like, ooooh, living, and at the end of the month you realise, oh, shit, no money left.
Re: Hang on a cotton picking minute.....
I dont have to spend all my money on rent in the city or on rail season tickets because I choose to live somewhere with reasonably priced accomodation and I cycle to work. Note the magic word "choose" there.
These guys, on the other hand,don't get to choose where they want to work, so they don't get the chance to avail themselves of opportunity that might involve cheaper (or free) accomodation and travel and the possibility of keeping a larger slice of their paycheque. They are required to indenture themselves to Foxconn or fail their degree.
Re: Hang on a cotton picking minute.....
There is much in what you say, Piloti, but at least in a free society you get to choose how you end up with no money at the end of the month. But in a communist dictatorship, like China or Boston, you have no rights.
Still, at least the student is learning a useful skill, unlike our "social media" intern.
Re: Hang on a cotton picking minute.....
Wow those poor little pointless academics, they had to work for a whole 2 months.
The only thing that truly surprised me about this article is that China seems to have suddenly acquired a bunch of work-shy, worthless academics just like ~80% of the UK Graduates that cannot get a job once they finally leave school with no useful qualifications.
University Not Receiving Money
"the university is not receiving any money for sending the students to Foxconn"
If so, then there are university and government bureaucrats getting bribes to enforce this policy.
It's particularly resented by [...] social sciences students, according to the Chinese news site, which reported that many felt the "work experience" was irrelevant to their studies."
Yes, because social science students are supposed study workers, not *be* workers.
Sounds like an innovative and progressive way...
... to curb unemployment.
The 'art of the matter
> arts and social sciences students, according to the Chinese news site, which reported that many felt the "work experience" was irrelevant to their studies.
A "proper job" might be irrelevant to these students' studies, but it will provide invaluable experience for what they'll probably end up doing after they graduate. As for the wages and deductions they get, isn't that just par for the course?
Maybe the UK could ship some arts and SS industrial placement students out to Foxconn for a taste of real-world jobs, too.
Re: The 'art of the matter
A few people I went to school with did social sciences / art courses at college and uni.
Of those people they're currently split between the following jobs
Cleaner / janitor / fast food server / coffee barista / unemployed.
I can fully endorse taking these courses if you can make a career out of it, but 90% of the people who take them don't. It's just a waste of 4 years and a boat load of cash.
Not only that; making it even more obnoxious, they will probably never earn enough to the made to pay back those student loans/fees, so it will have to be paid for by the general tax payer...
..which will include all those cleaners/janitors/fast food servers/etc... that didn't waste vast amounts of time other peoples money.
Re: @wowfood
and the really funny thing is that the amount the tax payer ends up paying will be several times the amount we used to pay per undergraduate when university fees were paid from general taxation
@wowfood: Does what they are doing now matter when they may have studied the subject because it interests them which I always thought was the main reason people went to college or university (apart from the drinking). It'd be a pretty shit world if people were only allowed to attend college or university on the proviso that they have to guarantee having a career in the subject they want to study. Besides I suspect most of your friends won't stay in those jobs forever and will find better jobs, perhaps ones involving their field of study.
@AC: Bollocks. Almost all of the people I know who studied arts and humanities degrees in the past few years are paying back their student loans at higher rate than they have to, much faster than my friends who studied IT or science at university as a matter of fact. I suspect that is because they have less of a tendency to piss their money away on shiny gadgets or online gambling.
That doesn't include those that saved up from part time work as a teenager or ran their own little businesses at that age to generate enough cash to go to university naturally.
> Almost all of the people I know who studied arts and humanities degrees in the past few years are paying back their student loans at higher rate than they have to, much faster than my friends who studied IT or science at university as a matter of fact.
No, they're only doing that because they're not very good at maths.
A student loan is the cheapest source of capital an individual will ever get. The interest charged on it is guaranteed to NEVER exceed the rate of inflation (meaning that over time, it's value will decrease naturally). Therefore the best approach is to pay it back as slowly as the system allows and put any "surplus" earnings into a savings account to earn the ex-student a nice little slice of interest.
Re: @snowlight
Eh, they'd rather not be in debt to anyone for any longer than is absolutely necessary, cheap sources of capital being something that doesn't particularly bother them as far as I can tell. They earn anough to pay it off quicker, save some and still have enough left to live somewhere nice and do fun things and that is what matters to them. People think about things differently sometimes *shrug*.
Hmmm sounds like ideal work experience for people who do arts and social science degrees, that or MacDonald's, as outside of academia where is the demand for those "skill" sets???
Bloody crayon botherer's and no shit sherlock's
I know people with music degrees
who make >£150k a year.
The going rate for an in-demand conductor or opera singer is four or five figures per show.
If you take the time to visit the Royal Academy Summer Show, you'll see art for sale for five figures. And plenty of sales.
Arts courses are brutal on failures - unlike engineering, where you can be utterly mediocre and still make something approaching a passable living just by turning up every day and poking at a keyboard to produce crap that barely works.
Oh - and on a typical iPhone game, the art person will earn more than the code monkey. Especially considering you can hire in coders for < £10/hr.
If anyone is offended by this, consider what the world would look like with *no* art or design - no music, no architecture, no car design, no product design, no literature, no public or private art of any kind.
Doesn't that sound like a really appealing place to live?
Someone has to win the lottery
but the odds are very much against it being you.
The going rate for Bruce Springsteen/Cher/pick-your-star per show is a hell of a lot more than your conductor. And there are a lot more of them than your conductor - a few hundred top-flight rock stars globally, compared to a couple of dozen top-flight conductors globally. But that's across the whole *world*, all 7 billion of us.
Further down the tree, there are a lot of musicians of all types who are making a living from it, varying from "I can afford a mortgage, life insurance, pension and school for my kids" to "I can afford a bedsit and a tin of baked beans". Even they are lucky to be doing so well.
Because further down the tree still are the vast majority who tried and failed at making a living from it. Last I heard on music tech courses, there were four-digit numbers of graduates per year, and two-digit numbers of jobs for them. Work it out for yourself.
Re: I know people with music degrees
> Oh - and on a typical iPhone game, the art person will earn more than the code monkey.
As somebody who used to work in the industry and who still has many friends (both artists and "code monkeys") who still do I can tell you quite categorically that this is not true.
Lose an artist during a project and it is no big deal. There is disruption but it is minimal. Lose one of the lead programmers on the other hand and you have major disruption whilst you bring another programmer up to speed. The wages reflect this.
Re: I know people with music degrees
Preach it! If we had no artists who'd run Starbucks and Costa? I can't survive without my coffee.
"Doesn't that sound like a really appealing place to live?"
What, a world in which things are what they are, no more and no less? Sign me up! Hell, I'll go back and strangle Wright, Pei, and Mies van der Rohe in infancy, just to make a start -- you just lend me a time machine, and I'll get started...
Nothing shocking here.
So China is Corrupt (someone makes money to fuel Apple's low cost manufacturing)
Apple manufacuring is corrupt in supporting such actions (but recent reports have shown this is now well known, and probably not just apple)
Waste of space courses have their students doing a normal boring job and then complain about it.
Nothing so far is shocking me with this.
Re: Nothing shocking here.
So your home and PC is completely free of Foxconn's handy work?
No, It's not relevant to your learning, but you better get used to it. These are the sort of menial tasks they will be doing for the rest of their lives with these useless qualifications.
I would have thought that social scientists getting their hands dirty and directly experiencing the working conditions of the normal working (wo)man would be an invaluable experience for them.
But then I guess if they had wanted to be productive members of society they would have picked a different degree.
Students perform tasks like trimming the edges off a mobile phone
"So what do you do for a living?"
"Well, I'm a iPhone Smoother! And I don't actually make a living from it!"
Mine's the one covered in flakes of iPhone casing,
Re: Students perform tasks like trimming the edges off a mobile phone
So those rounded corners are actually hand-rounded from boring old rectangles by liberal arts student slaves?
To hell with mechanised mass-production, that's real quality for you.
Interns barely making a profit from summer work?
Interns barely making a profit from summer work?
And that's different to how it was when I was a youngster how? Just because it's China doesn't make it different from how it is in the rest of the world.
You're an intern, you're not supposed to be making the big bucks. And you've chosen a crappy degree, so get used to not earning the big bucks!
Re: Interns barely making a profit from summer work?
Did you ask to be an intern? Did you willingly turn up in the hope that working for free now would give you valuable experience and also look good on your CV when applying for paid work? Or did the government force you to go with the threat of failing your degree if you don't? Big difference
Re: Interns barely making a profit from summer work?
Sorry for shouting but many of the retarded comments here make it sound like they were sent to a forced labour camp for 4 years.
By the time they had done their inductions, received training to learned how to use the machines and do a remotely passable job, they probably cost Foxconn money.
What next?
Forcing the unemployed to work for no wages providing security for the Olympics?
Re: What next?
There was a lot more behind that story than made the papers, and what was reported was sensationalised way beyond the reality.
Although these people may not have earned monetary rewards, they got some important and quite valuable certification and a license from doing this work that would then make it possible to actually get a job in the security field, ensuring future work.
I am an IT contractor, and used to being expected to pay for my own training, and last year I was offered some training and contact with a new technology as long as I did not bill for the days I spent doing it. This was attractive to me, as although I worked unpaid days, I did not have to fork out for the cost of the course (which even if it were available outside the vendor - and it isn't, would have been more expensive than the lost earnings). I see this as no different from what these security personnel had to do.
I can see the point of interns complaining about having to do work unrelated to their degrees, however.
Surely all the companies using Foxconn...
...should be looking towards more ethical suppliers.
Its the only way to stop these kind of stories.
Students Complain At Having To Do Work!
This is news?
The overall idea that students have to experience real work not related to their field of 'study' is a very good one. Particularly arts and social sciences students.
Re: Students Complain At Having To Do Work!
Not so very long ago the Chinese were forced to refine steel in their own back yards, and doing manual labour was the most highly regarded form of employment.
Truly, Maoism is dead.
No profit ?
No profit ? - they got Food, Heating and Shelter - the 3 essentails.
plust phone calls too ! bonus!
"workshy students"
I take issue with some of the comments above. The student in question wasn't workshy - he simply resented being made to work for peanuts and for it to be deemed academic credit, especially since there was not even the thin veneer of being associated with a production management qualification. He wanted to get academic credit for doing UNIVERSITY COURSES and spend his vacation time WORKING on his family's farm. This is not the same as a UK student who just wants to spend the summer on Facebook and Cityville.
Re: "workshy students"
Since when do internship have something to do with what a student is studying?
There are western countries that require everyone to do national service. Greece requires a whole 9 months of national service which if you try to avoid it you're not leaving the country and if you're outside of the country you better be ok with losing your passport.
Quite frankly I have no sympathy for them. Of all of the problems with China this doesn't even register and maybe they'll help improve their country for the poor if they have to experience how they have to work for the rest of their lives.
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Declaration (computer programming)
|This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: Too many examples of unclear relevancy; not enough references; problematic mentions of header files and multiple declarations. (December 2013)
In programming languages, a declaration specifies the identifier, type, and other aspects of language elements such as variables and functions. It is used to announce the existence of the element to the compiler; this is important in many strongly typed languages (such as C) that require variables and their types to be specified with a declaration before use, and is used in forward declaration.[1]
In the BCPL family languages such as C++ and Java, it can also specify the variable's dimensions to declare a scalar, array or matrix. In this family, "pure" declarations (announcing the existence and properties of the element, commonly called simply "declarations") and definitions (declarations that provide the actual implementation in the case of functions, and initialization in the case of variables) can be made independent of each other.
Declarations and Definitions[edit]
In the C-family of programming languages, declarations are made in header files, which are included in other source files that reference and use these declarations, but don't have access to the definition. This creates an interface between the declaration and implementation, thereby increasing code modularity.[2] A declaration is often used in order to access functions or variables defined in different source files, or in a library. A mismatch between the definition type and the declaration type generates a compiler error.
For variables, definitions assign values to an area of memory that was reserved during the declaration phase. For functions, definitions supply the function body. While a variable or function may be declared many times, it is typically defined once. Dynamic languages such as JavaScript or Python generally allow redefining of functions.
Here are some examples of declarations that are not definitions, in C:
extern char example1; extern int example2; void example3(void);
Here are some examples of declarations that are definitions, again in C:
char example1; int example2 = 5; void example3(void)
In some programming languages an implicit declaration is provided the first time such a variable is encountered at compile time. In other languages such a usage is considered to be a fatal error, resulting in a diagnostic being issued. Some languages have started out with the implicit declaration behavior, but as they matured they provided an option to disable it (e.g. Perl's "
use strict" or Visual Basic's "
Option Explicit").
Examples of how various programming language implementations respond to undefined variables are given below. Each code example is followed by an error message (if any).
(setf y x)
*** - EVAL: variable X has no value
static void Main() { int y = x; }
The name 'x' does not exist in the current context
int main() { int y = x; return 0; }
foo.c: In function `main': foo.c:2: error: `x' undeclared (first use in this function) foo.c:2: error: (Each undeclared identifier is reported only once foo.c:2: error: for each function it appears in.)
JavaScript (Mozilla Firefox 1.0)
y = x
Error: x is not defined Source File: file:///c:/temp/foo.js
Standard ML (Standard ML of New Jersey v110.55)
val y = x;
stdIn:1.9 Error: unbound variable or constructor: x
Set Y = X
OCaml 3.08
let y = x;;
Unbound value x
Perl 5.8
my $y = $x;
(no error)
use strict; my $y = $x;
Global symbol "$x" requires explicit package name at foo.pl line 2. Execution of foo.pl aborted due to compilation errors.
$y = $x;
(no error)
error_reporting(E_ALL); $y = $x;
PHP Notice: Undefined variable: x in foo.php on line 3
Python 2.4
>>> x = y Traceback (most recent call last): File "foo.py", line 1, in ? x = y NameError: name 'y' is not defined
Ruby 1.8
irb(main):001:0> y = x NameError: undefined local variable or method `x' for main:Object from (irb):1 from /usr/bin/irb:12:in `<main>'
Dim y As Integer y = x
Real Basic Error: Undefined method or property: x on line 2
VBScript (WSH 5.6)
Dim y
y = x
(no error)
Option Explicit Dim y y = x
(3, 1) Microsoft VBScript runtime error: Variable is undefined: 'x'
See also[edit]
- ^ Mike Banahan. "2.5. Declaration of variables". http://publications.gbdirect.co.uk/c_book/: GBdirect. Retrieved 2011-06-08. "[A] declaration [...] introduces just the name and type of something but allocates no storage[...]."
- ^ Torsten Seemann. "Code Modularity and the C Programming Language." http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/courseware/cse2304/hndtC.html: Monash University. Retrieved 2014-02-01. "

subset: commoncrawl


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Steven Van Zandt recently stopped by the Arsenio Hall Show to sit in for an interview and play a song from his show Lilyhammer, which is airing in its first season on Netflix.
The guitarist for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band selected "Espresso Martini," which has a rambling blues feel to it.
Check out the clip below and visit Van Zandt's official Facebook page for more information.


text:
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Favstar gets even better if you sign in.
It's good they didn't shut Twitter down for the day or we'd have nowhere to talk about the Internet blackouts.
iOS and Mac developer on AppViz at IdeaSwarm; founded InfinitApps LLC; formerly a lead on Revel, Lightroom and ImageReady at Adobe.
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text: On July 21 2004, at approximately 1130 mountain daylight time, a Davis-Zenair, STOL CH 801, N10627, was substantially damaged following a loss of engine power, when it impacted terrain during a forced landing on a field near Erie, Colorado. The airline transport certificated pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The local test flight was being conducted under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 without a flight plan. The flight originated at Erie-Tri-County Airport (48V), Erie, Colorado, at approximately 1000.According to the pilot, the airplane's 1988 liquid-cooled Mazda Twin-rotor automotive engine had accumulated approximately 2,500 road miles, but the airplane had accumulated a total of only 1.5 hours of flight time. The pilot said he was conducting the initial test flight and had completed 10 takeoffs and landings on runway 33. While on crosswind following the 11th takeoff, he noticed that the indicated engine coolant temperature had increased from, a normal operating temperature of 110 degrees F., to 220 degrees F. The increase in temperature was followed by a drop in engine rpm and a partial loss of engine power. Unable to maintain pattern altitude, the pilot attempted to land on runway 09, but the pilot was forced to land in a plowed field approximately 200 feet short of the runway. The impact displaced the left wing aft, collapsed the nose landing gear assembly, and buckled the firewall.An examination of the airplane revealed no anomalies.


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Sports and Recreation
Best Return on Investment
Published: July 31, 2013
Orlando Predators
It's the thought that counts, and although the Orlando Predators didn't win at least 10 of their 18 games last season, they're still fulfilling their half of the "losing is unacceptable" performance guarantee bargain by crediting season ticketholders to make up for games they blew. So, heads up: Next year could be the year the Predators rise to the top of the indoor football food chain. If not, your tickets will, at least, be greatly discounted.
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The new federal health law allows qualified young adults to remain on their parents' policies
Young adults and their parents will be among the first to experience the changes brought by the new federal health care legislation.
The new Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, signed by President Obama in March, requires private health insurance companies to extend dependent coverage to qualified young people until they are 26.
The change takes effect on or after Sept. 23, though many of the nation's major health insurance companies, including Anthem, Cigna and Aetna, have pushed forward the start date to next week.
"Excellent," said Aaron Richardson, a new graduate of the University of Mary Washington. "I guess the next three years are going to be a little less stressful."
Each spring many families like the Richardsons lose coverage for their adult children when the children age-out of the family's plan, or are no longer full-time students.
When that happens, the young people either go without insurance, or they purchase--often with their
Scott Hoffman, for example, was dropped from his parents' policy after graduating from UMW in December.
His parents, residents of New York, were able to carry him for an additional 90 days. Since then they have continued his coverage through COBRA for $500 a month.
Now young people can remain on their parents' group or non-group health plans if they don't have the chance to buy insurance from their own employers.
The new provision
While Richardson was at UMW, he was insured under the policy that his father purchases from Washington & Lee University in Lexington, where he works.
Richardson graduated this month and does not have a full-time job. He would have been dropped from his father's policy in July when he turned 23. Now, he said, his family will extend his coverage.
"With any luck I'll only need to be on his coverage for the next few months," Richardson said.
Kat Saunders, 22, also graduated from UMW this month and was dropped from her family's health plan soon after that.
"It's pretty brutal. There's no grace period," said Bob Saunders, her father.


text:
Kate LevyJ. Carey is one smooth operatorHave you noticed the influx of male R&B singers these days, particularly in the Mile High City? Adam Duncan, who just joined the A&M/Octone Records roster, is just one of many cats putting it down in Denver these days. Jon Shockness (Air Dubai), J.Carey ... More >>
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Handing out the trophies for 1997's best albums.
Digging out from a blizzard of seasonal CD releases.


text:
In what has been exclaimed as a "big win" for condominium associations and unit owners, the Appellate Division has determined that a condominium board's decision to file suit without taking a pre-litigation vote, required by the association's bylaws, can be affirmed at a later time by the membership and cannot be challenged by the defendants. Designed to protect the financial interests of the unit owners, the bylaws cannot be used by defendant developers and contractors to suppress those very same interests. Non-homeowners, therefore, do not have standing to challenge unauthorized or procedurally defective decisions of the board to start suit.
Faced with widespread construction defects in the common elements of its 225-unit community with a price tag in excess of thirty million dollars for repairs, the Port Liberte II Condominium Association filed suit in 2008 against those responsible, the Developer and the contractors that built the development. Several years into the law suit, the defendants sought dismissal of the entire action because the Association had not obtained a community vote to approve the filing of the suit, as required by a provision of the bylaws drafted by the Developer. To rectify that oversight, the Association held two separate votes to ratify the original filing of the suit, the first in October of 2009, which was approved by the community 72 votes to 3, and a second in October of 2011, which was approved by a vote of 65 to 1. Armed with these two examples of overwhelming support in the community for the lawsuit, the Association opposed the defendants' motions to dismiss the case arguing that the defendants, as outsiders who owned no units in the community, had no standing to enforce the bylaws, and, even if they had such standing, the original filing of the suit was overwhelmingly ratified by the unit owners.
With an opinion that barely filled a single page and devoid of any legal precedent, the trial court allowed the defendants to use the Association's bylaws, designed to protect the unit owners, as a weapon against them and dismissed the Association's entire case, and with it the unit owners' hopes for fixing their community.
The Appellate Division, however, reversed the court's flawed decision. Specifically, the Appellate Division found that the "trial court misconstrued the bylaws – and disserved the unit owners' interests – in holding that the owners could not ratify the Association's action after the lawsuit was filed." Additionally, the Court held that the defendants had no standing to enforce the voting provision of the bylaws.
Interpreting the Condominium Act and the spirit and purpose of the community's bylaws, the Court found that the voting provision of the bylaws was intended to protect the unit owners' financial interests by requiring their approval of possibly expensive litigation. The Court, however, then noted that the unit owners in the Port Liberte II community also had "an equally great - if not greater - financial interest in recovering damages to repair the common areas, because otherwise they will have to pay for the repairs themselves through assessments." The Court then concluded that it would "not enforce a statute or regulation in a manner that would produce an absurd result, contrary to its purpose. Here, it would be absurd to construe [the bylaws] in a way that would strip the owners of a cause of action designed to recoup payment for construction defects, if they are willing to authorize the litigation after it was filed."
While provisions of the bylaws may provide a process by which a board obtains authorization to file suit i.e. an affirmative vote of the membership, unauthorized actions of the board may be cured through ratification, such as a subsequent vote, and are not deemed null and void. This means that pre-litigation voting requirements included in the bylaws by the developer cannot preclude an informed board from filing suit when time is of the essence and a community vote is impractical. A later vote of the membership ratifying the decision of the board will suffice; and while not technically a "pre-litigation" vote, it will nevertheless, according to the Appellate Division, comply with the spirit and intent of the bylaws and the Condominium Act.
The Court went a step further and found that the defendants, strangers to the relationship between the unit owners and the Association, lacked standing to enforce the voting provision in the bylaws. To that end, the Court observed that "because defendants' interests were adverse to the unit owners, letting them enforce the unit owners' interests would be akin to letting the proverbial fox protect the interests of the chickens."
Turning its attention to the cases relied on by the judge in support of his decision to dismiss, the Appellate Court had no trouble distinguishing them as lacking any relevance and legal significance. Ascribing error to the trial court's decision to dismiss the Association's entire case on a curable procedural hyper-technicality, the Appellate Division reversed and revived the original complaint to proceed on the merits.
Following the court's dismissal of the Port Liberte II Condominium Association's suit, word spread quickly through the defense bar about a new avenue to avoid liability for construction defects. The Appellate Division has now spread a new word – Developers and contractors cannot intrude into the affairs of a condominium association and its unit owner members by forcing strict compliance with un-amendable, onerous pre-litigation voting requirements in the bylaws.]]>
All those dissuading factors, however, did not stop one association from trying. Faced with over $30,000 of unpaid maintenance dues for two abandoned units, Woodlake at King's Grant Condominium Association, made an application to the Chancery Court for an appointment of a rent receiver. The Chancery Judge denied the Association's request finding that the "extraordinary remedy of appointing a rent receiver" was not appropriate under those facts and circumstances. The Association appealed and the Appellate Division issued an unpublished decision on April 1, 2014 affirming the judge's denial of the Association's application. See Woodlake at King's Grant Condo. Ass'n v. Coudriet, 2014 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 714 (App. Div. Unpub. 2014).
Despite recognizing that the Association was seeking the appointment of a receiver so that it could rent out defendants' vacant units and recoup some of the assessment monies owed by the defendants, the Appellate Court did not find legal support or plaintiff's arguments persuasive in favor of forcing the defendants to rent their units or for allowing the Association to rent those units to new tenants. Even though the Association's assessment liens would remain unpaid after a foreclosure sale because the mortgage liens on the units exceeded their fair market value thereby leaving the Association with no remedy, the Appellate Division found no authority in the bylaws or in the Condominium Act for providing the appointment of a rent receiver.
Even if the Association's governing documents did include an express provision allowing for the appointment of a receiver in case of assessment dues default and unit abandonment, the right to receivership is not guaranteed and still "subject to equitable considerations in the Chancery Division judge's exercise of discretion." This means that a Chancery Judge has the discretion to deny an application for receivership even when there exists an express agreement giving the moving party the right to the receivership.
While hinting that "a condominium association has the right to seek appointment of a rent receiver under appropriate circumstances," it did not find those circumstances existed in Woodlake's case. Not only was there no express provision in the bylaws giving the Association the right to a rent receiver, but the Association sought to rent out and collect rents from the units "without giving notice to the mortgage lender and affording the lender the opportunity to be heard." Since a mortgage lender may be entitled to the appointment of a receiver in a foreclosure action "when it appears necessary for the protection of the mortgagee" and the mortgagee's security interest, the court was understandably reluctant to grant receivership to the Association without the involvement of the mortgage lender.
The court's decision finds support in the practical considerations that abound in a receivership situation. First, where no rent-paying tenant exists, one must be found, which means the unit must be cleaned, repaired, and appliances updated as necessary. Would the association be able to recoup any costs incurred in making the unit rentable? Second, if there is a foreclosure action by the bank or the Association, negotiating lease durations becomes an issue. What happens if the foreclosure proceedings come to an end during a lease period? And third, if the bank is involved, what happens if it wants a rent receiver for itself or better yet a portion of the rent received by the association? All these questions and more make the process less than straightforward and the judges hesitant about granting such an "extraordinary remedy."
Although New Jersey courts have appointed receivers under varying and similar circumstances as those presented in Woodlake, there has been no published opinion on point. The Appellate Division's decision here, albeit unpublished, is the first written decision to explore the balance of the equities involved in an association's rent receivership application. While it does not explicitly identify the conditions for a successful application, the Woodlake decision does provide associations and practitioners with some key takeaways for increasing their chances of getting a rent receiver: amend the bylaws to provide for the right of receivership and notify the appropriate mortgage lenders when seeking the appointment of a rent receiver.]]>
Plaintiff, The Palisades at Fort Lee Condominium Association, filed suit in March of 2009 alleging property damage as a result of defendants' negligent construction of the high-rise building. At the time the Palisades was constructed, it was purely a rental apartment building owned by the builder. It was then later sold to the sponsor who registered the building as condominiums and sold the units to homeowners. Once the homeowners assumed control of the Association, they hired an engineering firm to inspect the common elements and prepare a transition engineering report. The report revealed numerous construction deficiencies and the homeowner-controlled Association filed suit not long thereafter.
Here, the dates and timeline are important: the building was substantially complete on May 1, 2002; on June 28, 2004, the builder sold the apartment complex to the sponsor; on January 27, 2005, the sponsor registered the building as a condominium and began selling units; in July of 2006, the sponsor transitioned control of the board to the unit owners; the transition engineering report was issued on July 13, 2007; and the Association filed suit on March 12, 2009. Additionally, the Public Offering Statement registered by the sponsor contained a 2004 engineering report that outlined a number of deficiencies.
Under the existing legal paradigm as understood by this author, the statute of limitations on the Association's claims would, in all likelihood, have began to run in July of 2006, when the unit owners first took control of the Association. Maybe, the statute was triggered as early as 2005, when the Association was first incorporated or as late as July of 2007, when the transition engineering report was issued. But in no case would the statute begin to run against the non-existent Association in 2002, when the building was substantially completed, almost three years before the Association could have possibly learned of its injury. Yet, that is exactly what Judge Wilson held.
Statute of Limitations
The plain language of the statute gives injured parties six years "after the cause of . . . action shall have accrued" to bring suit. N.J.S.A. 2A:14-1. Relying on a Supreme Court decision solely addressing when the completely separate and distinct statute of repose is triggered, Judge Wilson held that a plaintiff's cause of action in a construction defect case accrues at the time of substantial completion. That conclusion, however, is drastically undermined by legions of case law applying the discovery rule in complex causation cases and by the legislative history behind the statutes of limitations and repose.
Unlike the absolute and unyielding ten-year statute of repose, the statute of limitations is equitable in nature and thus subject to equitable considerations. As such, the statute of limitations is informed by the discovery rule, which operates to move the starting marker to that point in time when the "injured party discovers, or should have discovered by the exercise of reasonable diligence and intelligence, that an actionable claim exists." Lopez v. Swyer, 62 N.J. 267, 273 (1973).
In a complex construction defect case, the trigger for the statute of limitations is the moment in time when the construction defects became reasonably apparent or ascertainable to the plaintiff. See Diamond v. N.J. Bell Telephone Co., 51 N.J. 594 (1968) (holding that when plaintiffs did not discover that defendant's installation of a conduit had apparently damaged their sewer line until nine years after the event, the statute of limitations did not start to run until the harm to plaintiffs became reasonably apparent or ascertainable); Torcon v. Alexian Bros. Hospital, 205 N.J. Super. 428, 432 (Ch. Div. 1985), aff'd, 209 N.J. Super. 239, certif. denied, 104 N.J. 440 (1986) ("It would be anomalous to hold that certain classes of plaintiffs are afforded the protection of the discovery rule while others are not when it is alleged the injury was not readily ascertainable. The discovery rule should be equally applicable to allegedly hidden construction and design effects.")
It is therefore the discovery of the defects which triggers the running of the statute, not the date of substantial completion, although under the right set of facts the two could conceivably coincide. In the case of the Palisades, like most condominiums, the Association did not discover or through the exercise of reasonable diligence should have discovered that it was injured until it was privy to the engineering report attached to the POS or until it received the transition engineering report, both of which occurred many years after substantial completion.
A Legislative Look Back
The legislative backdrop to the enactment of the statute of repose in response to the potentially indefinite liability brought on by the advent of the discovery rule belies any suggestion that "substantial completion" marks the beginning of the limitations period.
Prior to the enactment of the statute of repose, the "completed and accepted rule" provided that an architect's or a builder's liability for negligent design or construction of a structure "terminated upon the completion of the professional's work and its acceptance by the property owner." E.A. Williams Inc. v. Russo Development Corp., 82 N.J. 160, 165-66 (1980). The Supreme Court repudiated the "completed and accepted rule" outright in Totten v. Gruzen, 52 N.J. 202 (1968), a year after the enactment of the statute of repose, N.J.S.A. 2A:14-1.1. In O'Connor v. Altus, 67 N.J. 106, 121 (1975), the Supreme Court pointed out that the "tendency away from the completed and accepted rule was so clearly established as to make it reasonable to assume that the Legislature took that trend into account in enacting the statute."
As a result, the demise of the "completed and accepted rule" left those involved in the design and construction of improvements to real property vulnerable indefinitely to liability for injuries arising from a structure's defect. This was because the discovery rule deferred the running of the statute of limitations until a victim discovered or should have discovered that a wrong had been inflicted. The advent of the discovery rule exposed defendants, including architects and builders, to potential liability for injuries caused by defective workmanship that would last indefinitely, inasmuch as many defects would often not be discovered or give rise to a claim for damages until an injury had in fact occurred.
The statute of repose was the legislature's response seeking to limit that greatly increased exposure and to "prevent liability for life" against contractors and architects. See Rosenberg v. Town of North Bergen, 61 N.J. 190, 194 (1972). Our Supreme Court has recognized that the legislature enacted the statute of repose in response to the expanding application of the "discovery rule" to new types of tort litigation, the abandonment of the "completed and accepted rule" (by which contractor and architect liability for negligence ended on completion of the work and its acceptance by the property owner), and the expansion of strict liability in tort for personal injuries caused by defects in new homes to builder/sellers of those homes. See Greczyn v. Colgate-Palmolive, 183 N.J. 5, 9-11 (2005); Newark Beth Isr. Med. Ctr. v. Gruzen & Partners, 124 N.J. 357, 362-363 (1991).
The discovery rule created the potential for liability for injuries occurring long after design and construction professionals had completed a project. The statute of repose was therefore "meant to cut back on the potential of this group to be subject to liability for life."
As a result, the interplay between the statute of repose and the statute of limitations, which is subject to the discovery rule, provides adequate protections to builders and contractors whose work causes injury to persons or property. While discovery of an injury or other equitable concerns may delay, defer, and/or toll the running of the statute of limitations for many years beyond substantial completion, the statute of repose provides a firm cut-off date after which an injured plaintiff no longer has a cause of action. If, as Judge Wilson held, the six-year statute of limitations immutably commences running upon substantial completion, the ten-year statute of repose, which unconditionally begins to run upon substantial completion, would be rendered meaningless. What's the point of a ten-year window if a plaintiff will be time-barred after six years?
That is why the statute of limitations is fluid, malleable, and susceptible to equitable considerations, such as undiscovered hidden construction defects and the transition process unique to condominium ownership. The statute of limitations, therefore, does not begin to run upon substantial completion and its trigger, duration, and expiration vary with the specific facts and circumstances of each case.
Substantial Completion & the Statute of Repose
The case cited by Judge Wilson in support of his conclusion that the statute of limitations is triggered upon substantial completion says nothing of the sort and actually reinforces the concept of a shifting statute of limitations trigger. In discussing the applicability of the statute of limitations to the facts of the case before it, the Russo Farms Court relied on the prerequisites of the discovery rule in determining the date plaintiffs' claims began to accrue i.e. when plaintiffs knew or should have known that they had a cause of action against defendants. Russo Farms, Inc. v. Vineland Bd. of Educ., 144 N.J. 84, 115 (1996); see also Trinity Church v. Lawson-Bell, 394 N.J. Super. 159, 176 (App. Div. 2007) (stating that the Russo Farms Court implicitly recognized the application of the discovery rule to the six-year statute of limitations for claims based on injury to property).
While Russo Farms did not use the date of substantial completion as the trigger for the statute of limitations, it did hold that substantial completion, as opposed to finished construction and completed punch-list items, marked the beginning of the ten-year statute of repose period. 144 N.J. at 117. Accordingly, the "statutory period" determined by the Supreme Court to begin upon the date of substantial completion is the statute of repose, not the statute of limitations.
What This Means for Condominium Associations
While Judge Wilson's decision is an unpublished, non-binding trial court level opinion in one specific case, it nevertheless opens the door for other judges to employ the same flawed reasoning and analysis in evaluating whether an association's claims are time-barred. Until this precise issue is addressed by the Appellate Division on appeal, each case will turn on its specific facts and the legal proclivities of the presiding judge.
As a practical matter, associations should consider filing a complaint to stop the limitations clock soon after learning of construction defects – usually marked by the date the board receives the transition engineering report. Even if the association intends to negotiate with the developer and ultimately not pursue litigation, filing a complaint may be a good idea because the Court Rules allow a complaint to be filed without being served on the defendants for a period of four to six months. During that time period, a filed complaint may be withdrawn without prejudice (able to be filed at a later date) and without the need to release any of the defendants from the alleged claims (as would likely be the case if the defendants were served and had filed answers).
As such, filing a pro forma complaint gives concerned associations the security of having stopped the limitations clock and the flexibility to evaluate whether an amicable resolution is possible or whether litigation is the best option.]]>
Fortunately for homeowners, a recent decision from the Appellate Division captioned D'Andrea v. Hovnanian, 2013 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 1484 (App. Div. June 18, 2013) has changed that landscape. According to the Appellate Division, the four prerequisites for bringing a class action lawsuit – numerosity, commonality, typicality, and adequate representation – were met by a class of plaintiffs who sued developer K. Hovnanian ("Hovnanian") for fire safety hazards in the HVAC system installed in their homes.
Arguing against class certification, Hovnanian contended that the individualized nature of home construction made such causes of action unsuitable for class certification. Hovnanian pointed out, and Plaintiffs agreed, that there was no single deviation common to each class member's home. Nevertheless, despite the significant differences among the construction defects, there remained a "strong commonality in the nature of the claimed defect – fire safety hazards in HVAC return systems." Seeing the forest instead of the trees, the court focused on whether construction of the HVAC cavities met the applicable code rather than on the differences in materials and construction methods used.
According to the court, Plaintiff's satisfied the commonality requirement because even though the improper construction varied from home to home, the effect of that construction remained the same. The court also found that common questions of fact and law predominated over individual differences between the claims. The significance of the common thread i.e. improper return cavity fireblocking, outweighed the relevance of the individual issues of damages i.e. repairs. As a result, class certification was appropriate.
Recognizing the economic realities deterring individual claimants from pursuing individual lawsuits or arbitrations, the Appellate Division agreed that the class action device was particularly useful in this case. Efficiency and consistency weighed heavily in favor of class certification, as did fairness to the class members and a lack of prejudice to Hovnanian.
This case sets important precedent for individual homeowners, especially those living within planned developments built by the same developer. Members of homeowners' associations now have a potentially viable option of pursuing litigation as a class to recover for construction defects. Whereas expert fees and litigation costs are nearly insurmountable for individual homeowners, the class structure allows members to share those costs while still seeking full recovery of their damages. While the D'Andrea decision has opened the door for construction defect cases to be brought as class actions, time will tell exactly how large that opening is. For the time being, however, it appears that homeowners, whose homes suffer from a common defect having the same adverse effect, are suitable candidates for class membership in a class action lawsuit.]]>
[N.J.S.A. 56:8-2 (emphasis added).]
A plaintiff therefore need not show reliance on the unlawful conduct of the defendant as long as an ascertainable loss resulting from defendant's conduct is demonstrated. Accordingly, in order to prevail, a plaintiff need only demonstrate a causal connection between the unlawful practice and ascertainable loss. The Belmont Association did just that: it presented evidence that the POS and accompanying marketing materials were distributed to all the original purchasers in order to induce them to purchase their units. Reliance was not a required element and therefore the Appellate Division rejected Monroe Station's arguments to the contrary.
Next Monroe Station contended that the Association's CFA claim must fail as a matter of law because the POS representations were true at the time they were made and because they were not accompanied by "aggravating circumstances." The Appellate Division disagreed.
A false statement of fact is not an essential ingredient of a plaintiff's cause of action based on affirmative wrongdoing. Instead, the capacity to mislead is the prime ingredient of an unlawful practice under the CFA. Intent is irrelevant. Therefore, a claim of literal truth will not constitute a defense to a plaintiff's CFA claim where the overall impression created by an advertisement is misleading and deceptive to an ordinary reader.
According to the Appellate Division, Monroe Station's statement that there were no known defects in the common elements that could not be determined through reasonable inspection, while literally true at the time made, because they were made before construction, clearly had the capacity to mislead an average reader. As such, the developer's claim of literal truth was not a valid defense to the Association's CFA claims.
The Appellate Division likewise reject Monroe Station's "aggravating factors" argument because a plaintiff need not demonstrate "aggravating factors" when the alleged "unlawful practice" is an affirmative misrepresentation. Only when an unconscionable commercial practice such as a breach of contract or breach of warranty is alleged does a showing of "substantial aggravating circumstances" become necessary in order to justify treble damages and an award of attorney's fees. Since the Belmont Association's CFA claims were based on the unlawful practice of affirmative misrepresentations rather than on an unconscionable commercial practice, the Association was not required to demonstrate "aggravating factors."
The Appellate Division, however, agreed with Monroe Station that the Association lacked standing to seek damages for the windows because the windows are personal to the unit owners and are not part of the "common elements." Since the Master Deed did not classify the windows as part of the common elements nor made any specific reference to the unit windows, the Appellate Division reasoned that the unit windows, located within the individual units, are intended for the use of the individual owner. As such, the Association could not recover for defects in the windows, as those would be individual grievances necessarily left to litigation brought by individual unit owners.
Finally, the Appellate Division reversed the trial court's award of prejudgment interest on the punitive portion of Plaintiff's CFA damages award. It is well settled that prejudgment interest is not intended to apply to awards of punitive damages. In Belinski v. Goodman, 139 N.J. Super. 351, 360 (App. Div. 1976), the Appellate Division explained:
While R. 4:42-11(b) does not expressly except punitive damage awards from its scope, the policy considerations which gave rise to its adoption suggest that result. Prejudgment interest is assessed on tort judgments because the defendant has had the use, and the plaintiff has not, of moneys which the judgment finds was the damage plaintiff suffered. It is thus clearly implied that interest on the loss suffered by a plaintiff as a result of defendant's tortious conduct is what was contemplated by the rule.
An award of prejudgment interest is therefore limited to the compensatory portion of a CFA damages verdict. Accordingly, the trial court erred in awarding prejudgment interest on the trebled damages amount instead of only on the compensatory damages amount awarded by the jury.
All things considered, this was a big win for condominium associations and unit owners. It is clear that the CFA has teeth and can yield big awards against unscrupulous developers. A multi-million dollar judgment sounds great and is very impressive on paper, however, there still remains the issue of collection. A multi-million dollar award is not worth the paper it is printed on if the developer is insolvent, bankrupt, or judgment proof. Therein lies the rub. Most of the time, developers will create a project specific entity to act as the "developer" of a condominium development that will have no assets as soon as the last unit in the development is sold. Once all the money is gone, there is nothing left for creditors or plaintiffs to seize. That is why many condominium association plaintiffs forego pursuing CFA claims and instead go after insurance proceeds for property damage resulting from negligent construction.
Plaintiffs alleged numerous defects with Hovnanian's construction of the return air cavity, including insufficient thickness of the I-joist webs, improper fireblocking construction, unsealed holes and cracks, and other building code violations. After many days of expert testimony, the trial court granted Plaintiffs' motion to be certified as a class. Hovnanian filed an interlocutory appeal arguing that the trial judge erred in finding that the Plaintiffs satisfied the requirements for class certification.
Hovnanian relied on the absence of precedent regarding class action certifications in single-family residential construction defect cases to argue that the individualized nature of home construction made such causes of action unsuitable for class certification. Hovnanian pointed out, and Plaintiffs agreed, that there was no single deviation common to each class member's home. Nevertheless despite the significant differences among the construction defects, there remained a "strong commonality in the nature of the claimed defect – fire safety hazards in HVAC return systems." Seeing the forest instead of the trees, the Court focused on whether construction of the HVAC cavities met the applicable code rather than on the differences in materials and construction methods used.
The Court had no trouble finding that plaintiffs satisfied the requirement there be commonality among the claims because even though the improper construction varied from home to home, the effect of that construction remained the same:
The defective fireblocking may result from one or more of a finite set of reasons, but the effect is precisely the same on a specific, narrow aspect of the safety of class members' homes.
Additionally, the answers to the questions regarding the alleged code violations for one plaintiff will be equally applicable to similar alleged code violations for another plaintiff.
Next the Court turned to questions of predominance and superiority. Predominance exists when the "questions of law or fact common to the members of the class predominate over any questions affecting only individual members." R. 4:32-1(b)(3). The Court found that common questions of fact and law predominated over individual differences between the claims. The significance of the common thread i.e. improper return cavity fireblocking, outweighed the relevance of the individual issues of damages i.e. repairs. As a result, the trial court did not err in finding that the common issues predominated. The Court acknowledged that there is a great deal of judicial economy to be realized from deciding all the issues in one proceeding rather than hundreds of separate proceedings.
Finally Hovnanian challenged the trial court's finding that the class form of litigation was proper and superior to other available methods. Recognizing the economic realities deterring individual claimants from pursuing individual lawsuits or arbitrations, the Appellate Division agreed that the class action device was particularly useful in this case. Efficiency and consistency weighed heavily in favor of class certification, as did fairness to the class members and a lack of prejudice to Hovnanian. The Court had little doubt that a class action was the best method of adjudicating the class members' claims and therefore affirmed the trial court's certification of the class.
This case sets important precedent for individual homeowners, especially those living within planned developments built by the same developer. Members of homeowners' associations now have a potentially viable option of pursuing litigation as a class to recover for construction defects. Whereas expert fees and litigation costs are nearly insurmountable for an individual homeowner, the class structure allows members to share those costs while still seeking full recovery of their damages. While the D'Andrea decision has opened the door for construction defect cases to be brought as class actions, time will tell exactly how large that opening is. For the time being, however, it appears that homeowners, whose homes suffer from a common defect having the same adverse effect, are suitable candidates for class membership in a class action lawsuit.
A unit owner, shall by acceptance of title, be conclusively presumed to have agreed to pay his proportionate share of common expenses accruing while he is the owner of a unit. . . . No unit owner may exempt himself from liability for his share of common expenses by waiver of the enjoyment of the right to use any of the common elements or abandonment of his unit or otherwise . . .
The "or otherwise" language implies that the obligation of unit owners to pay the proportionate share of the common expense is absolute and does not yield to other considerations, such as disputes with the Association. See Holbert v. Great Gorge Vill. S. Condo. Council, 281 N.J. Super. 222 (Ch. Div. 1994) (plaintiff owner was obligated to pay for previously unpaid common expenses, plus interest, despite having brought suit against defendant condominium association for alleged mismanagement of condominium affairs).
Among the powers assigned by law to a condominium association is the authority to assess and collect funds for the payment of common expenses. N.J.S.A. 46:8B-14. The New Jersey Legislature has defined "common expenses" as follows:
[E]xpenses for which the unit owners are proportionately liable, including but not limited to:
(i) all expenses of administration, maintenance, repair and replacement of the common elements;
(ii) expenses agreed upon as common by all unit owners; and
(iii) expenses declared common by provisions of this act or by the master deed or by the by-laws.
[N.J.S.A. 46:8B-3(e).]
"A unit owner's obligation to pay common expenses is unconditional." Holbert, supra, 281 N.J. Super. at 226 (emphasis added). Failure to pay assessed common expenses automatically gives rise to a lien against the owner's unit in favor of the association. N.J.S.A. 46:8B-17. The lien may be foreclosed following its recordation in the office of the Clerk of the county in which the unit is situated. N.J.S.A. 46:8B-21. The amount of the lien against the unit may lawfully include the unpaid common expenses, interest on the common expenses calculated at the legal rate and, if authorized by the master deed or the by-laws, reasonable attorneys fees. N.J.S.A. 46:8B-17 and -21.
While unit owners have an absolute legal obligation to pay common expense assessments, the same may not be true of other assessments, such as limited common element assessments, emergency assessments, special assessments, capital improvement assessments, etc. The validity of those assessments may be successfully challenged should the internal procedures proscribed by the applicable governing documents not be followed and fully documented by the Board of Directors. It is therefore imperative that a condominium Board be familiar with the oft-overlooked procedural particulars outlined in the master deed and/or by-laws for enacting and levying certain types of assessments.]]>
The New Jersey Supreme Court has held that the ten-year statute of repose for bringing an action against a contractor or an architect begins to run as of "substantial completion" of the real property. Russo Farms v. Vineland Bd. of Educ., 144 N.J. 84, 117 (1996). The Court defined "substantial completion" as the date when construction is sufficiently complete so that an owner can occupy or utilize the building. Therefore, generally when the architect certifies as much to the owner and a Certificate of Occupancy is issued attesting to the building's fitness for occupancy, the real property is substantially complete and the statute of repose begins to run.
One important concept has evolved from recent developments of case law interpreting the statute of repose: the start date for the ten-year time limit of the statute of repose is not the same for all contractors and design professionals on a particular project; the start date differs depending on a party's continued involvement with a construction project. See State v. Perini Corp., 425 N.J. Super. 62 (App. Div. 2012). The Perini Court engaged in a lengthy discourse of the relevant case law interpreting New Jersey's statute of repose from which it derived three guiding principles: First, the trigger date is the date of substantial completion, not completion of every last task of the contractor; Second, separate trigger dates apply to subcontractors that have substantially completed their work, even if the improvement as a whole is not completed and ready for use and a certificate of occupancy has not been issued; Third, the trigger date for any single contractor runs from completion of that contractor's entire work on the "improvement," not from discrete tasks. [425 N.J. Super. at 74-75 (internal quotations omitted).] This means that certain contractors, who performed services on a job site early on, can benefit from a repose period that commences earlier than the date of substantial completion.
Thus, while the statute of repose commences as to the developer, general contractor and architect upon substantial completion, the analysis is not the same for each individual contractor who will claim the benefit of the repose period ten years after the date the contractor walked away from the project having rendered all of his services and discharged all of his responsibilities
Finally, it is important to note that the strict limitations of the statute of repose only apply to those claims "arising out of the defective and unsafe condition of an improvement to real property." N.J.S.A. § 2A:14-1.1. The statute as plainly worded applies to parties whose professional work is functionally related to and integrated with a building plan or design, and which gives rise or contributes to a defective and unsafe condition.
The New Jersey Supreme Court has pointed out that the statute of repose does not provide that all claims against planners, and designers, including surveyors, vanish after the passage of ten years from the performance of services. Rather, the statute of repose includes as a significant limiting qualification the requirement that a condition be both defective and unsafe. This means that in determining which actions fall within the statute, a court must first determine, as a threshold issue, whether the claimed condition is one that can be classified as "defective and unsafe."
An unsafe condition exists when the work created a situation hazardous to the well-being and safety of persons or property coming into contact with the improvement or structure. See, e.g., Newark Beth Israel Medical Center v. Gruzen and Partners, 124 N.J. 357 (1991) (prospect that building an addition to a hospital as designed would render the completed building dangerously susceptible to wind created an unsafe and hazardous condition even though the design flaw did not pose a threat to the building as then presently constructed) Rosenberg v. Town of N. Bergen, 61 N.J. 190, 197-98 (1972) (holding that a negligently paved road created an unsafe condition); Cnty. of Hudson v. Terminal Constr. Corp., 154 N.J. Super. 264, 267 (App. Div. 1977) (holding that negligently installed ceramic tiles that began to crumble and fall created a hazardous condition), certif. denied, 75 N.J. 605 (1978); Salesian Soc'y v. Formigli Corp., 120 N.J. Super. 493, 496 (Law Div.1972) (holding that the leakage of water that damaged the building's support structure created an unsafe condition), aff'd o.b., 124 N.J. Super. 270 (App. Div. 1973); cf. E.A. Williams, supra, 82 N.J. at 170-71 (surveying error, resulting in improper spacing between buildings, did not rise to the level of a dangerous and unsafe condition); N.C. State Ports Auth. v. L. A. Fry Roofing Co., 294 N.C. 73, 86 (1978) (action against contractor for damages from leaky roof was not subject to statute of repose because no unsafe condition was found).
Accordingly, in order for the statute of repose to even apply, defendants will have to show that their work created an unsafe or hazardous condition.
To this end, our courts recognize the inherent unfairness in allowing statutes of limitations to run against an association while the developer controls its board. The reason is clear – individual unit owners lack standing to assert claims for faulty construction affecting the common elements prior to transition. Thus, equity cannot support the running of limitation periods against an association that legally cannot assert its rights during the period of developer control.
In New Jersey, the Law Division decision in Terrace Condominium Ass'n v. Midlantic Nat. Bank, 268 N.J. Super. 488 (Law Div. 1993), clearly stands for the proposition that statutes should be tolled when the unit owners of a condominium are not in control of the Board. In Terrace, a condominium association brought an action against a bank that took over construction of the building. At the time the bank took over, some of the units had been sold, but construction was still continuing. Construction was later completed under the bank's watch, and almost immediately its residents experienced numerous problems with water infiltration into their units. Midlantic, the bank/owner in question, engaged an engineer to document the problems and provide a solution. Most of these repairs were "short-lived or improper repairs to the most significant of the [] problems and generally had the effect of concealing the true causes of the problems."
Transition occurred and the Association filed suit against Midlantic. Midlantic raised a statute of limitations defense as to several of the building warranty claims. The court found that because the bank had effectuated repairs, the statute of limitations did not run against the unit owners because they relied upon the bank to effectuate the proper repairs while in control of the Association. Additionally, the court found that, notwithstanding the repairs undertaken by Midlantic, the "unit owners had no control of the Association, and should not be bound by the period of time thereto." This is true "even if each unit owner could have sued the Bank while the Bank was in control of the Association" and that "it may well be that ordinarily the right to make such claims should be tolled or deferred until the unit owners control the association."
There is also an unpublished decision by the Appellate Division that directly addresses a condominium Association's ability to control its own destiny. The Appellate Division decision captioned Skyline Condominium Assoc. v. Falkin, No. A-3913-98, A-3860-98, A-3792-98 (App. Div. September 10, 2001), is right on point. In the Skyline opinion, the Appellate Division was faced with the issue of "determining the first date that a plaintiff obtained the enforceable right to institute and maintain an action regarding the controversy" for the purposes of the entire controversy doctrine.
Recognizing the difficulty in running the statute of limitations clock while the individual unit owners are not in control of their association's board, the Skyline Court concluded that the statute of limitations on an action for construction defects by a condominium association against a sponsor should be tolled until the unit owners control the association.
Put simply, for a cause of action to accrue, the injured plaintiff must have knowledge of both injury and fault. Lynch v. Rubacky, 85 N.J. 65, 70 (1981) ("the discovery rule centers upon an injured party's knowledge concerning the origin and existence of his injuries as related to the conduct of another person"). This rule applies to complex construction defect cases involving hidden construction and design defects.
Among the relevant factors in analyzing whether the discovery rule applies are the nature of the injury and the difficulties inherent in discovering it. Vispisiano v. Ashland Chem. Co., 107 N.J. 416, 428 (1987). For example, in a toxic tort case, such as that presented in Vispisiano, diagnosing a plaintiff's injury is but the first step in establishing a chain of causation. Id. at 429. The plaintiff's suspicion that he had been poisoned, after comparing his symptoms to those of a co-worker, was not sufficient to accrue a cause of action, particularly in the face of his doctors' repeatedly rejecting plaintiff's concerns that he had been poisoned while working at a chemical plant. Id. at 436.
Applying the foregoing to the condominium construction defect setting gives rise to the argument that a plaintiff association's cause of action accrues when it receives an engineer's report (either during transition or afterwards) that first apprises the association of the defects afflicting its buildings and the suspected causes of those defects. However, it may be the case that the requisite knowledge is obtained at an earlier date when unit owner board members learn of defects.
New Jersey follows the discovery rule, which tolls the running of the statute of limitations until the time when plaintiff has or reasonable should have knowledge of injury and fault. One fundamental difference between the statute of limitations and repose is that the statute of limitations may be tolled, whereas the statute of repose cannot. In New Jersey, the statute of repose period is ten (10) years from the date of substantial completion and the statute of limitations period is six (6) years from the date of accrual of a cause of action.]]>
The article discusses the fact that in New Jersey, litigations need to be aware of the "statue of repose" in addition to the statue of limitations. Mr. Markin states that statute of repose issues will most commonly arise in the area of construction defect litigation, when a lawsuit is filed more than 10 years after the construction of a building.
You can read the full article online here. (PDF)
In the article, Mr. Markin states, "Since its inception, the New Jersey Home Warranty and Builders' Registration Act, N.J.S.A. 46:3B-1 to -20, has proven to be more of a trap for new homeowners than the safety net it was purported to be. The purpose of the act is to establish a program requir¬ing that newly constructed homes con¬form to certain construction and quality standards, as well as to provide buyers of new homes with insurance-backed warranty protection in the event such standards are not met. While the intent of the act is to provide homeowners with a prompt, convenient and cost-saving means of resolving disputes con¬cerning construction defects, in reality, its effect has been, in many cases, to strip homeowners of any meaningful means of recovery for discovered con¬struction defects."


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Thursday, February 16, 2012
Impressing Dinner Guests - with, yes, Venison!
My last deer harvested on a hunt with Og and company, was a doe. It was a long shot, the range of that Marlin with .357 pistol loads (you can't hunt with rifles in my state). She wasn't a youngster, but she wasn't all that big, though I didn't know that until the good clean shot was taken. That prompted my Dad, when seeing a photo of me and my deer to say in front of the whole family - "did you shoot a dog?" After enduring numerous cracks about the Whitetail Spaniel, people shut up after eating the prepared summer sausage and tenderloins that came from that bounty, a good 60 pounds of excellent meat to tide my house over for the winter months.
For those of you who are lucky enough to have on hand in your freezer, (or as a gift from a fellow hunter), a nice piece of venison (or yes, a chunk of good beef) this is a meal worthy of family or friends. The recipe comes from two members of the HOTR honorary Canadian division, father and son, Dad being long time friend and fellow sportsman Marty.
If you are ever in Langford BC, stop in at the excellent Fountain Diner and tip your hat to Marty's son, head chef Jesse Fischer who kindly shared his recipe (they're located at 2800 Bryn Maur Rd, in Langford, B.C.)
Venison Roast with Red Currant Jelly Sauce
Take one bone-in venison hip, this was a doe, very tender and succulent, 10-12 lbs. Line bottom of roasting pan with a basic mirepoix (a chopped mixture of onions, 50%, and celery and carrots at 25%, ). A note from B. - the finer you chop them the more aromatic they will be.
Chop 5 cloves garlic, and mix with 2 roughly chopped sprigs of rosemary and 1/4 c. of olive oil.
Place venison in roasting pan and coat with oil/herb mixture. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Cook at 400 F. for 45 min and then turn down to 300 for 2 hrs. until medium rare. Do not overcook! Remove venison from roasting pan and let rest 30 min.
Place the mirepoix and drippings into a sauce pan. Add 1 and 1/2 c red wine (HOTR recommends Malbec), place on stove and reduce by half. Strain to save the liquid. Julienne 10 small shallots and sauté in sauce pan until translucent. Add the saved liquid, 1/3 cup of red currant jelly and simmer 10 min.
Evening low light's not the best for a small camera, but it makes for a beautiful table.
Roast Potatoes
3 small skin on potatoes per person, washed and tossed with olive oil and 10 whole cloves garlic for the batch. Roast 30-45 min. at 400 F. until tender.
Roasted Tomato Vinaigrette
Two whole medium tomatoes (your favorite, through yellow or orange heirloom ones make for a pretty dressing) washed, skin on. Cut in quarters, drizzle with olive oil (I added a sprinkle of summer savory to Jesse's fine recipe) and roast in 300 F. oven for 1 and a half to 2 hours (put in at same time as you turn down venison).
Cool and remove skin if desired, but not necessary. Combine with 1/2 cup white balsamic vinegar and 1 cup olive oil. Process with boat motor. ;)
Serve over mixed green salad (no, not iceburg but good dark greens including wild greens if you can get them, iceburg lettuce has all the nutritional value of the USA Today newspaper).
See, a game dinner you'd be proud of. I had a haunch you'd like it :-)
22 comments:
- Island Bob said...
Yup, this one's going in my archives; it ought to be good for our black tails too. Thanks!
- February 16, 2012 at 7:44 PM
- greg said...
All the venison I have left is in burger form, but I might be willing to try this with a good beef roast. I just happened to get a bottle of Malbec as part of my selection from the Terra Blanca Winery wine club this month.
- February 16, 2012 at 7:57 PM
- Rev. Paul said...
You had vegetarian readers after all this time? Boy, were THEY in the wrong place!
That's some tasty-looking food, right there.
- February 16, 2012 at 8:29 PM
- BobG said...
I haven't been able to go hunting in a few years due to medical reasons. Looking at that venison makes me want to cry.
- February 16, 2012 at 8:37 PM
- Brigid said...
Island Bob - it was really good.
Greg - I've one pack of venison left now and it's burgers. It went fast.
Rev Paul - they liked my writing, not the food posts, but I give them credit for being good readers through it all.
BobG - Farmer Frank offers up his land to us to hunt when it's in corn. If you can get here, we'll get you out there, whatever it takes, if only to just join in on the food and fun.
- February 16, 2012 at 8:44 PM
- Keads said...
Perhaps my friend that has been out this year will send some Venison my way. I would like to try that recipe out!
- February 16, 2012 at 8:44 PM
- mikelaforge said...
Red currants and lingonberries are seriously overlooked by most cooks. Tasty looking. Maybe with a haunch of buffalo? There is a local breeder here.
- February 16, 2012 at 8:48 PM
- TinCan Assassin said...
I bet you Iceberg Lettuce has better copy than USAToday though...
- February 16, 2012 at 9:00 PM
- Stormdrane said...
"salad being what food eats!" LOL :D
- February 16, 2012 at 11:53 PM
- Stephen said...
The best ingredients, are always best served simply. And for me, venison is a best ingredient. And your looks simply wonderful. Yum!
- February 17, 2012 at 12:26 AM
- Res Ipsa said...
My compliments. You take some very good photos. In particular I like the fact that the roast actually looks moist and tender. I do not doubt your cooking skills; I just know how hard it can be to get a photo to come out that good. I wish I had been able to get those kinds of photos when I was a chef.
Here's a challenge for you. I have 3 sets of pronghorn tenderloins in my freezer. No, I didn't manage to fill my elk tags this year, and I didn't bother going deer hunting. The goats were hung and aged 10 days before processing, and are wonderful. What would you make the filets into?
- February 17, 2012 at 2:55 AM
- Larry said...
The only time I had a shoulder I smoked it on the grill. I thought it was pretty good, but this would be even better. You should publish a cookbook.
BTW, took some of my ground venison and made meatballs, they were wonderful.
- February 17, 2012 at 3:53 AM
- Old NFO said...
Oh... Oh... sigh... that looks SO good!
- February 17, 2012 at 5:06 AM
- AussieAlaskan said...
Great haunch! Oh, how I wish....But I enjoyed this vicariously. Thanks.
- February 17, 2012 at 5:33 AM
- Critter said...
*scribble, scribble*....red...currant...jelly....malbec...*scribble*
- February 17, 2012 at 8:37 AM
- MaineMapleDave said...
Looks awesome, in a carnivore-ey way.
Saw this quotation on a website recently: "Meat is really just concentrated vegetables."
I can work with that!!
- February 17, 2012 at 9:23 AM
- Brigid said...
Res Ipsa - you're on.
1 1/2 lbs. boneless Antelope loin
Dry rub
3 c. panko bread crumbs
1 1/2 c. toasted pecans, roughly chopped
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon onion salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 Tbsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. cracked black pepper
Porcini Cream Sauce
2 oz. dried porcini mushrooms
2 qt. chicken stock
1/4 c. teriyaki sauce
3/4 c. heavy cream
1 1/2 tsp. garlic
1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. dry mustard
Pulse dry rub ingredients in a foot processor.
To make sauce, simmer dried mushrooms in stock in a large saucepan for 30 minutes.Add remaining sauce ingredients and simmer for another 15 minutes.
Cut tenderloin into 6 oz. portions and roll them in dry rub mixture. Bake at 400° for about 7 - 10 minutes, or until medium doneness. (you want no more than 130 F internal tempeature) Pour a little of the cream sauce on a plate, top with sliced antelope and a few crumbles of blue cheese if you wish.
- February 17, 2012 at 10:46 AM
- LauraB said...
You don't know how welcome this is considering I think I have 5 of those things in the freezer and no idea what to do with them.
So no marinade needed prior?
Thank you!!!
- February 17, 2012 at 12:02 PM
- Engineer said...
For your entertainment.
- February 17, 2012 at 12:25 PM
- Res Ipsa said...
I'll give your suggestion a try. I just took out some tenderloin out of the freezer. Tomorrow I'll give it a go and post the pics at my place.
- February 17, 2012 at 2:24 PM
- Mrs. S. said...
- February 17, 2012 at 4:21 PM
- 45er said...
Oh yes, a freezer full of Whitetail and Axis. I really need to start using it. I like having that problem. :) Looks great.
- February 17, 2012 at 10:42 PM


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In world war II the tripartite agreement was signed by which all countries ?
Asked by stalin, 08 Dec '12 04:05 pm
Earn 10 points for answering
Answers (3)
Japan, Germany, and ItalyAnswered by anantharaman, 08 Dec '12 04:10 pm
Germany Italy and JapanAnswered by rajnikant raiyarela, 08 Dec '12 04:15 pm
The Axis grew out of the Anti-Comintern Pact, an anti-communist treaty signed by Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan in 1936. The Kingdom of Italy joined in 1937. The "RomeBerlin Axis" became a military alliance in 1939 under the Pact of Steel, with the Tripartite Pact of 1940 leading to the integration of the military aims of Germany and its two treaty-bound allies. At their zenith during World War II, the Axis powers presided over empires that occupied large parts of Europe, Africa, East and Southeast Asia, and islands of the Pacific Ocean. The war ended in 1945 with the defeat of the Axis powers and the dissolution of the alliance. Like the Allies, membership of the Axis was fluid, with nations fighting and not fighting over the course of the warAnswered by Quest, 08 Dec '12 04:09 pm


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Beyoncé, Nicole Richie and more celebs are ditching blue jeans in favor of a hot trou trend: patterned, printed, floral and tie-dyed pants!
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Updated: Wednesday Mar 28, 2012 | 06:00 AM EDT
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Why should Hawaiian shirts get to have all the fun? B steps out in N.Y.C. wearing a floral-bottomed jumpsuit with shades of pink, yellow, orange, green and blue.
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Pharoahe Monch @ 93 Feet East, London 27
By Sophia Jackson
One of hip hops finest underground lyricists, Pharoahe Monch, delivered an aggressively entertaining performance at
Pharoahe Monch, real name Troy Jamerson, proved that he was more than a one album wonder and as soon as he made his entrance at 10 pm, the crowd were instantly hyped. However, the sweat box of a venue proved to be no hindrance to the support he got from his fans. We all had nothing but love to give as we shared the pre-release celebration of Monchs long, long awaited second album. Hailing from
Pharoahe Monch was a former member of the
On the night, the first song he performed was the controversially titled F*ck You which was later changed to Got You, a track guaranteed to get any party started. Hearing tracks from his seven-year-old album highlighted exactly what kind of classic anthems had materialised from this wordsmith. They still sounded fresh and acted as a reminder of what hip hop used to be. However, at this point he made his sentiments on war and George Bush clear, and the crowd readily joined him in chants of F*ck George Bush! which ended with cheers and applause when Pharoahe said F*ck where were from, its where were at. He then continued with Right Here and
Continuing on the classic trail, Pharoahes next offering was My Life. It was now time to introduce something new and he hit us with Push from the new album, which gave his backing singers a chance to show off their skills. This track is going to blow up. Its kind of jazz sounding and shows of his varied vocal talents too.
Also from the new album was a performance of Desire, which is the title track of the new album. Monch then gave a shout-out to the tunes producer Alchemist. Last but not least, was of course Simon Says. Theres something empowering about shouting get the f*ck up at the top of your lungs. Its the perfect way of venting any venom or anger youve had building up and giving your lungs and tonsils a bit of a work out. So, if Simon says Get the F*ck up, who am I to argue? Its hard to believe that this same performer sensitively asked revellers at the front of the intimate venue to refrain from smoking.
Deciding to ending on Simon Says was a good move, as it left the crowd on an exhausted high. Pharoahe Monchs new albumDesire is set for release later this year under Street Records Corporation. Saying patience is a virtue is an understatement in Pharoahe Monchs case, but as they say, all good things come to
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Watts makes a floral deliver at a friend's Sydney wedding. Plus: Jessica & Honor, Ashley & Joe, Britney Spears and more
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Did she catch the bride's bouquet? After enjoying a beach day with her boys, Naomi Watts celebrates a pal's nuptials with some flowers and a smile in Sydney, Australia on Wednesday.
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This Lipstick Charm is a great way to preserve memories, give for gifts or collect for yourself. This charm measures approximately 1/4" x 3/4".
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Because I loved this charm, I bought it before I knew what I wanted to do with it. I added a tiny mirror charm, and a red lip charm to a necklace. All items purchased at Hobby Lobby. The necklace was so cute, that I made earrings out of the this charm to go with. Used both necklace and earrings for a Chinese Auction and it was a great hit!
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Today we are adding a new series to the Empire wherein we feature the editors' favorite comments this week from across all three blogs. This is our way to express our love to our amazing community of more engaged and active readers. Lurkers are cool, but our commenters are our favorite bitches. Let's do this!
On A disappointed bride's 5 tips to get better wedding photos, Offbeat Bride Danielle said:
We nixed the disposable camera idea because we knew we would mostly get shitty blurry shots or the best men's butts.
…although as Superman pointed out, maybe best men's butts are all the more reason to do disposable cameras! http://instantrimshot.com
On Offbeat Mama, we had some great discussion about Going from Child-Free to confused and I'm now I'm grossed out, with this powerful comment from Offbeat Empire's resident Oprah, Dootsiebug:
I know it's easy for someone to say it and hard to believe, but you're not some sort of traitor for having mixed feelings. And you don't have to answer to anyone if you decide to move from the "strong feelings against" camp to "ambivalent/no opinion" (or even to "strongly for".)
Like any other opinion, it's really nobody's damn business how you feel about it if you don't feel like sharing. But if it helps, come up with a few noncommittal lines for when it comes up (as it does often around me.) For me, "People can do whatever they want, but I'm not sure it's for me" or "I just don't think the whole baby thing would jive with my life right now" does just fine. It expresses a little doubt but doesn't seem to negate your previous position.
I'm strongly child free about 90% of the time. The other 10%, I'm totally confused or unsure or sometimes hopeful. And it's really tough to reconcile moments of "YEAH! I could do this!" to "Ugh, babies." But you know what? That's okay. This wouldn't be such a big decision if it were easy to make! I'm allowed to waffle. And so are you.
Next up: DOOTSIE GIVES EVERYONE A NEW CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!!
Meanwhile, over on Offbeat Home, Amelia kept things light in this discussion of How I learned to stop worrying and love the domestic arts:
I too was disappointed that my wedding ring was not a magic "wife-things" super ring.
It's been two years for us and we are still getting the hang of it. Throw a toddler and a pregnancy in the mix… I'm sure my carpet is mostly made of cheerios at this point
And we'll end with this productivity tip that BLEW MY GODDAMN MIND from Rockwell on the post, Working from home: separating personal time from work time:
I use Gmail for work, and there's an amazing plug-in program thingie called Boomerang. It has a few different functions, but I mostly use it to schedule replies. So I'll want to respond to an email at 9 pm on a weeknight, but I don't want the 9 pm timestamp. I compose the message, then use Boomerang to set the message to leave my inbox the following morning. BAM! Makes me look like I am not working all the time! (Bonus: allows me to sleep in a bit, yet gives clients the illusion I'm up and at 'em at 9 am on the dot! WIN.)
And now, we must all go install Boomerang. See you next week for more awesomeness.