San Gabriel Valley : Condo Owners Settle Suit Over Defects

Property owners in a huge Pomona condominium complex, parts of which sank into the ground, will receive $5.7 million as part of a lawsuit settlement finalized last week.

The Hidden Valley Homeowners Assn. will use the money for extensive repairs to foundations, roofs and sewers at the 243-unit Hidden Hills complex on Philips Ranch Road near the Pomona Freeway, said Michael Hearn, its attorney. The complex was built in 1982.

“These, like many condos in the 1980s condo explosion, were built so quickly there wasn’t any proper supervision on construction,” Hearn said. “One unit had a 15-foot crack from the roof down to the floor.”

Attorneys for the developers, Bauer Development Co. of Newport Beach, were unavailable for comment.

The homeowners association filed the lawsuit in September, 1991, after some units started to shift because they were built on loose earth that was used to fill the valley. In other units, roofs and decks began leaking and, when heavy rains came, water ran under the buildings, Hearn said.