Moreno v. Sanchez

Armando Moreno and Gloria Contreras (plaintiffs) hired a home inspector, Sanchez (defendant), to conduct an inspection of a 49-year-old house the couple was purchasing. The inspection contract contained a modification of the four-year limitations period for claims against home inspectors that required all claims be filed no later than one year from the date of the inspection. After an unsuccessful attempt to get Sanchez to delete that clause, Moreno, a lawyer and licensed real-estate broker, agreed to the modification and signed the contract and initialed the limitations clause. The inspection was conducted, and it did not indicate any serious problems with the heating and cooling system. Moreno and Contreras moved into the home and within a month became ill. About a year later and after Contreras’s illness had become chronic and after extensive tests were conducted by engineers, several serious defects in the house that had not been disclosed by Sanchez’s inspection were discovered in the central heating and cooling systems. Moreno and Contreras filed an action against Sanchez for breach of contract, negligence, and negligent misrepresentation. Sanchez demurred on the grounds that the claims were barred by the contractual limitations period. Moreno and Contreras argued that the one-year limitations period in the contract was unreasonable and that the discovery rule should apply. The trial court concluded that the one-year limitations period was reasonable and that it barred each of the claims against Sanchez and dismissed the complaint. Moreno and Contreras appealed.