STRAWN v. CANUSO


140 N.J. 43 (1995)

657 A.2d 420

JOANNE STRAWN, GERALD L. STRAWN, TRACEY A. STRAWN AND BRANDON M. STRAWN, BY THEIR GUARDIAN AD LITEM JOANNE STRAWN, RUSSELL C. BURTON, AND BRETT C. BURTON, BY HIS GUARDIAN AD LITEM RUSSELL C. BURTON, ANTHONY ALVAREZ, RITA ALVAREZ, LISA ALVAREZ, JOHN M. GAVEN, SR., ANNETTE M. GAVEN, AND JOHN M. GAVEN, JR., YOUNG D. KIM, JULIA S. KIM AND PATRICK KIM AND ROY KIM, BY THEIR GUARDIAN AD LITEM YOUNG D. KIM, ALBERT WILLIAMS, EVELYN WILLIAMS AND STEPHEN WILLIAMS, PLAINTIFFS-RESPONDENTS, AND MARIE C. INCOLLINGO, ANTHONY F. INCOLLINGO, MICHELLE M. INCOLLINGO, NANCY ANN INCOLLINGO, FRANK CARNOT, RAFFAELA CARNOT, WILLIAM DENNIS, JACQUELINE DENNIS, NICOLE M. DENNIS AND FARRAH D. DENNIS, BY THEIR GUARDIAN AD LITEM JACQUELINE DENNIS, MICHAEL POWELL, DOROTHY POWELL, AMY POWELL AND MOLLY POWELL, BY THEIR GUARDIAN AD LITEM DOROTHY POWELL, MICHAEL J. VITARELLI, SR., LOIS A. VITARELLI, AND JACQUELINE VITARELLI, LESLIE VITARELLI, MICHAEL VITARELLI, JR. AND ANTHONY VITARELLI, BY THEIR GUARDIAN AD LITEM LOIS VITARELLI, CHRISTOPHER CONTI, ELAYNE CONTI, DANA MARIE CONTI AND GINA CHRISTINE CONTI, BY THEIR GUARDIAN AD LITEM ELAYNE CONTI, EUGENE E. JARON, ANN T. JARON, KATHLEEN A. JARON, STEPHEN M. JARON, PAUL M. KRAMER, PATRICIA G. KRAMER, DREW KRAMER AND LAUREN KRAMER, BY THEIR GUARDIAN AD LITEM PATRICIA G. KRAMER, SANDY OBLENA, ESTRELLA OBLENA, NATHANIEL OBLENA AND MICHAEL OBLENA, BY THEIR GUARDIAN AD LITEM SANDY OBLENA, WILLIAM HELBLING, ANTHONY CHAPMAN, CATHARINE CHAPMAN, DAVID CHAPMAN AND ADRIANE CHAPMAN, BY THEIR GUARDIAN AD LITEM CATHARINE CHAPMAN, JAY AGNES, JACQUELINE AGNES, ROBERT LEWIS, CELINE LEWIS AND STEPHANIE LEWIS, BY HER GUARDIAN AD LITEM ROBERT LEWIS, TRUDY BECMER, EDMUND BECMER, DEBRA MURACA, FRANK MURACA, DAVID BARD, RUTH BARD, HOWARD FRIEDMAN, DEBRA FRIEDMAN AND MICHELLE FRIEDMAN, BY HER GUARDIAN AD LITEM DEBRA FRIEDMAN, MARIANO A. PINIZZOTTO, ROSEMARY J. PINIZZOTTO, AND MARIE ROSE PINIZZOTTO BY HER GUARDIAN AD LITEM MARIANO A. PINIZZOTTO, CHESTER A. RIDDICK, JR., CARMELITA D. RIDDICK, TODD RIDDICK, AND ALLEN RIDDICK, BY HIS GUARDIAN AD LITEM, CARMELITA D. RIDDICK, MARTIN V. GOLDSTEIN, PATRICIA M. CORSON, FREDERICK E. CHINK, MARIA P. CHINK, MARIO CHINK AND CHRISTINA CHINK, BY THEIR GUARDIAN AD LITEM, FREDERICK E. CHINK, RICHARD J. NELSON AND MARY ANN NELSON, ON BEHALF OF THEMSELVES AND ALL OTHERS SIMILARLY SITUATED, PLAINTIFFS, v. JOHN B. CANUSO, SR., JOHN B. CANUSO, JR., CANETIC CORPORATION, CANUSO MANAGEMENT CORPORATION, AND FOX & LAZO INC., DEFENDANTS-APPELLANTS, AND JOCAN, INC., WEICHERT REALTORS, JOHN DOE (ONE) THROUGH JOHN DOE (TWENTY), AND DOE CORPORATION (ONE) THROUGH DOE CORPORATION (TWENTY), DEFENDANTS.

The Supreme Court of New Jersey.

Decided April 25, 1995.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Alan Greenberg argued the cause for appellants John B. Canuso, Sr., John B. Canuso, Jr., Canetic Corporation, Canuso Management Corporation, (Rawle & Henderson, attorneys; Mr. Greenberg and Joanne Stipick, on the brief).

Theodore W. Geiser argued the cause for appellant Fox & Lazo, Inc. (Begley, McCloskey & Gaskill, attorneys; Gregory R. McCloskey, of counsel and on the brief).

Mark R. Rosen argued the cause for respondents (Mesirov, Gelman, Jaffe, Cramer & Jamieson and Williams & Cuker, attorneys; Mr. Rosen and Mark R. Cuker, of counsel and on the brief).

Arthur M. Greenbaum submitted a brief on behalf of amicus curiae New Jersey Association of Realtors (Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith, Ravin & Davis, attorneys; Mr. Greenbaum, of counsel; Mr. Greenbaum, Peter A. Buchsbaum, and Bruce D. Greenberg, on the brief).

Henry A. Hill submitted a brief on behalf of amicus curiae New Jersey Builders Association (Hill Wallack, attorneys; Mr. Hill and Thomas F. Carroll, III, on the brief).

Alan H. Sklarsky submitted a brief on behalf of amicus curiae Association of Trial Lawyers of America-New Jersey (Tomar, Simonoff, Adourian & O'Brien, attorneys; Mr. Sklarsky and Franklin P. Solomon, on the brief).


The opinion of the Court was delivered by O'HERN, J.

Because this case arises from a motion for summary judgment, we must view the facts that may be inferred from the pleadings and discovery in the light most favorable to plaintiffs. In that light, the issue in this case is whether a builder-developer of new homes and the brokers marketing those homes have a duty to disclose to prospective buyers that the homes have been constructed...

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