Tusch Enterprises v. Coffin
Idaho Supreme Court
113 Idaho 37 (1987)

- Written by Darius Dehghan, JD
Facts
Robert and Elizabeth Vander Boegh (defendants) owned land on which they wanted to build three duplexes. The Vander Boeghs contracted with Rex Coffin (defendant), a building contractor, to erect the duplexes. During construction, Coffin became concerned about the softness of the soil and suspected that it was fill dirt, which would be more likely to cause the foundations to crack. Coffin discussed this concern with Robert, who had considerable experience in the construction business. The duplexes were built and then sold to Tusch Enterprises (plaintiff), and Tusch leased them to others. Tusch later discovered that the foundations were cracked due to fill dirt. Tusch had not been informed that fill dirt was used. Tusch filed suit against the Vander Boeghs and Coffin, alleging negligence, misrepresentation, breach of express warranty, and breach of the implied warranty of habitability. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the Vander Boeghs and Coffin on all four counts. Tusch appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Donaldson, J.)
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