HF 2888

1st Engrossment - 80th Legislature (1997 - 1998)

Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00 a.m.

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to civil actions; modifying the limitation of 
  1.3             actions for damages based on breach of statutory 
  1.4             housing warranties; amending Minnesota Statutes 1996, 
  1.5             section 541.051, subdivisions 1 and 4. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 541.051, 
  1.8   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.9      Subdivision 1.  (a) Except where fraud is involved, no 
  1.10  action by any person in contract, tort, or otherwise to recover 
  1.11  damages for any injury to property, real or personal, or for 
  1.12  bodily injury or wrongful death, arising out of the defective 
  1.13  and unsafe condition of an improvement to real property, nor any 
  1.14  action for contribution or indemnity for damages sustained on 
  1.15  account of the injury, shall be brought against any person 
  1.16  performing or furnishing the design, planning, supervision, 
  1.17  materials, or observation of construction or construction of the 
  1.18  improvement to real property or against the owner of the real 
  1.19  property more than two three years after discovery of the injury 
  1.20  or, in the case of an action for contribution or indemnity, 
  1.21  accrual of the cause of action, nor, in any event shall such a 
  1.22  cause of action accrue more than ten years after substantial 
  1.23  completion of the construction.  Date of substantial completion 
  1.24  shall be determined by the date when construction is 
  1.25  sufficiently completed so that the owner or the owner's 
  2.1   representative can occupy or use the improvement for the 
  2.2   intended purpose.  
  2.3      (b) For purposes of paragraph (a), a cause of action 
  2.4   accrues upon discovery of the injury or, in the case of an 
  2.5   action for contribution or indemnity, upon payment of a final 
  2.6   judgment, arbitration award, or settlement arising out of the 
  2.7   defective and unsafe condition. 
  2.8      (c) Nothing in this section shall apply to actions for 
  2.9   damages resulting from negligence in the maintenance, operation 
  2.10  or inspection of the real property improvement against the owner 
  2.11  or other person in possession. 
  2.12     (d) The limitations prescribed in this section do not apply 
  2.13  to the manufacturer or supplier of any equipment or machinery 
  2.14  installed upon real property. 
  2.15     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 541.051, 
  2.16  subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
  2.17     Subd. 4.  This section shall not apply to actions based on 
  2.18  breach of the statutory warranties set forth in section 327A.02, 
  2.19  or to actions based on breach of an express written warranty, 
  2.20  provided such actions shall be brought within two three years of 
  2.21  the discovery of the breach. 
  2.22     Sec. 3.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  2.23     Sections 1 and 2 are effective for housing warranties which 
  2.24  take effect on or after June 1, 1999.