Riverview Condominium Assn. v. Cypress Ventures

ORCP 22 does not run afoul of constitutional ripeness issues by authorizing an accelerated timeline for deciding minimally contingent third-party claims.

Brookfield appealed trial court's grant of summary judgment in favor of subcontractors. Cypress Ventures contracted with Brookfield Development as general contractor for condominium development and to develop townhomes near condominiums. Cypress experienced financial difficulties and deeded its interest to creditor, Bank One. Bank One sold a 13th unit on condominium triggering a "turnover" process, which gave control to the Association board. Some point after turnover, unit owners began experiencing water intrusion in their units. Association hired companies to fix water issues and found result was a series of construction-defect. Brookfield filed this appeal after the ruling in Riverview Condominium Assn v. Cypress Ventures stated that the condominium association's construction-defect claims against Brookfield were barred by the statute of repose. The trial court granted subcontractors' motion for summary judgment on the grounds that dismissal of the underlying claims against Brookfield eliminated the predicate for any third-party liability. The Court denied Brookfield’s motion to dismiss, holding ORCP 22, “by authorizing an accelerated timeline for deciding these types of controversies, runs afoul of constitutional ripeness principles.” Reversed and remanded to address third party claims; otherwise affirmed.