The WESH 2 I-Team spent countless hours exposing building flaws that led to major problems during the 2004 hurricanes. That brutal trio of hurricanes made many Ryland homeowners aware of water leaks in their new homes.

Now a judge's decision to grant their lawsuit class action status against the homebuilder may help many riled Ryland owners recover the unexpected expense of getting the damage fixed.

"I think it's terrific," said Lisa Brodsky, a Ryland homeowner.
Thousands of local homeowners might be asked to join a lawsuit over
hurricane damage. The suit just moved forward and could get a lot
bigger.

She said the water problems in her family's new Ryland home forced them to make major repairs.

"We tore out the kitchen cabinets, and we had mold, and we had water, and the window sills were soaked, and the drywall was soaked, and there was mold everywhere," she said.

Of the class action suit a Ryland Homes spokesperson told WESH 2 News, "Ryland respects the judge's decision and feels confident the process will show that our homes performed well during the unprecedented onslaught of three back-to-back hurricanes."

Brodsky and other homeowners argue that shoddy workmanship sealing outside walls of their Ryland homes is what lead to the water coming in, not just the hurricanes.

"Before the hurricanes even hit I wondered why the tile in my kitchen always looked wet when I hadn't mopped the floor," Brodsky said.

Now that the lawsuit has class action status, a lawyer for the plaintiff said he'll be able to go back to Ryland and get them to cough up a list of people who had their homes built between the end of 1999 and March 2005. With those names, the lawyer will be able to send letters out, and the lawsuit could get much much larger. 

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