Texas family wins $21.6M over new home they can't live in – Chron

Texas family wins $21.6M over new home they can’t live in  Chron

A jury awarded a Fort Worth-area family $21.6 million after finding a contractor responsible for construction defects that the family's attorneys said exposed them to sewer gas, mold and other hazardous conditions inside their home. The verdict came Tuesday after about two hours of deliberations in the case brought by Ronny and Mandy McCoy against NAE Enterprises, which does business as NAE Contracting, according to a news release from the family's attorneys at Just Well Law. The trial began Oct. 5 in the 67th District Court of Tarrant County. The jury awarded more than $21.6 million, including $10 million in exemplary damages against NAE. The firm's release said the jury found knowing and intentional violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, along with breach of implied warranty, negligence, negligent hiring and supervision, and gross negligence.

The gross-negligence finding and exemplary award were unanimous. At the center of the case was a plumbing problem the McCoys say went unnoticed for years. According to their Sept. 28 amended petition, the family bought the home in November 2018 after raising concerns about a strong odor shortly before closing, but an NAE project manager dismissed the claims. The petition also alleged the home's plumbing vents had been improperly terminated in the attic, allowing sewer gas to circulate through the house. The family says