It was supposed to be their dream home — a spectacular condominium in the Pinehills, complete with outdoor and indoor fireplaces, professionally designed gardens, and an upgraded white kitchen.
Kenneth and Darlyn Gagnon were eager to move in and leave behind the apartment they were renting elsewhere in the Pinehills — the town’s largest residential development.
But two days after their Jan. 26, 2021, closing, the Gagnons learned their new home came with a hidden flaw — a construction defect that crushed their dream of living a serene and maintenance-free life in Plymouth.
Their unit, like all the others in the Winslowe’s View neighborhood, was likely plagued with a “building envelope” problem. That meant water could seep through the wall, roof, windows, or doors.
They would be on the hook for thousands of dollars in repairs and their already high $702 a month condo fee would increase to more than $1,000.
They sued Pinehills Brokerage Services LLC; Pinehills agent Ellen Stratton, who was the seller’s agent; and the Dartmouth Company, which manages the neighborhood. The suit alleged they knew but failed to disclose there was a widespread water problem in the neighborhood.
The case is headed to trial after a Plymouth Superior Court judges refused to throw it out.
It wasn’t as if the Gagnons hadn’t inquired about potential water problems. They had heard the rumors and had their own agent ask Stratton, and the Dartmouth Company, whether the unit they wanted to buy was affected.
More than once, they say, the answer they received to that question was “no.”
Two days after they closed on the condo, they learned the truth.
They discovered that a committee called the Building Envelope Finance Panel, created by the condo board of trustees in March 2020, had issued a shocking report on Dec. 7, 2020 — more than a month before the Gagnons’ closing.
The report concluded that the water problem was so widespread it would likely affect every condo in the 550-unit complex, including the Gagnons’.
The report had been attached to an email sent to all Winslowe’s View homeowners on Dec. 15 — the day the Gagnons made an offer on the condo. But the letter or its contents weren’t communicated to the Gagnons until after they closed, when Stratton sent a copy to their agent.
“What is inescapable is that Winslowe’s View has an expensive problem,” the report said.
“We must keep in mind that doing nothing and seeing no cost increase is not possible,” the report said. “Winslowe’s View will be spending money to fix the building envelope problem.”
The finance panel concluded that the cost of repairs was likely going to be between $15 million and $45 million.
Homeowners would face an increase in their condo fee of between $165 and $255 a month.
“These are daunting, somewhat frightening numbers,” the report said.
Those figures did not include the cost to replace doors or windows, which were left to individual homeowners to cover.
In an August 2024 affidavit, Kenneth Gagnon said that learning about the building envelope issues just days after closing was “very upsetting.”
In the affidavit, Gagnon listed his then current out of pocket expenses including more than $3,300 for new windows and $12,000 to reinstall windows and doors and thousands of dollars more in other repairs.
The Gagnons, who are seeking at least $250,000 in damages, have accused Pinehills Brokerage Services LLC, Stratton and the Dartmouth Group of fraud, misrepresentation, and unfair and deceptive trade practices.
Pinehills Brokerage, Stratton and the Dartmouth Group have denied the allegations, saying they shared with the Gagnons’ agent all the information they had about the water issue as soon as they received it.
They said they were unaware of the Building Envelope Panel report until Jan. 29, 2021, three days after buying their condo.
Stratton also said she told the Gagnons before they closed to check with Dartmouth to see “whether the home had any issues or needed repairs.”
It was the second lawsuit filed in Plymouth Superior Court raising the same issues. David and Deborah Dauer bought a condo on the same street as the Gagnons at almost the same time.
They, too, alleged that information about the water problem was kept from them until after they bought their condo.
In that case, an out of court settlement was reached in February after a Plymouth Superior Court judge refused to throw out the lawsuit.
Earlier this month, another judge refused to dismiss the Gagnons’ case, ruling there are significant disputes that a jury should consider.
In his March 3 decision, Plymouth Superior Judge Ira Gant seemed unconvinced that Pinehills agents did not know the severity of the water problem when the Gagnons asked about it.
In his 25-page decision, Gant wrote that Stratton and another Pinehills sales agent were aware throughout 2020 – based on emails and discussion with homeowners – that there was a “growing concern that the board would impose a costly assessment or increased fees to pay for the water filtration issue, and that it would require repairs to all homes.”
The agents knew since mid-2020 that several board members were calling for a complete rebuild of all 550 homes, the judge wrote.
And a Dartmouth Group manager testified that the company was aware of water issues as far back as 2019, Gant wrote.
The judge also raised questions about whether Dartmouth managers knowingly made false or misleading statements when they told the Gagnons’ agent that they had “no record” of the condo being affected by the water infiltration.
They would have known about a problem in the unit only if the owner had reported it. But no one was living in the condo when the Gagnons were considering buying it, the judge wrote.
Also, the Dartmouth Group did not tell the Gagnons or their agent that 71 homes had already been tested for moisture and 98 percent showed signs of rot, the judge wrote.
Gant also rejected the Pinehills agents’ argument that closing documents make clear that monthly condo fees can be increased in the future so the Gagnons should have “reasonably expected this possible outcome.”
This was not, as the Pinehills agents asserted, simply a case of “buyer’s remorse,” the judge wrote.
Robert Galvin, the Gagnons’ lawyer, declined to comment as did Pinehills president and general counsel Deborah Sedares.
Michael Hanlon, a Winslowe’s View resident and former chair of the Board of Trustees, said the episode was and probably still is upsetting to many of the condo owners, who will have to pay increased monthly fees to cover the price of repairs — now $48 million — for decades, he said.
“The process was chaotic,” said Hanlon, who was board chair from 2014 to 2018. “It was very very contentious. People were very upset. The board was upset. Everybody was upset about having to spend millions to solve the problem.”
He said about 10 percent of condo owners in the neighborhood sold their units in one year because they didn’t want to pay the added expense.
Home values in the neighborhood have probably taken a hit, he said, though “properties seem to be selling.”
Andrea Estes can be reached at andrea@plymouthindependent.org.