Valenzuela

We address only one issue: May a prior property owner’s knowledge of property defects be imputed to the current owner for purposes of starting the running of the statute of limitations as to the developer when the prior owner acts as an agent of the developer in concealing the defects from the current owner? We conclude that under those circumstances a prior owner’s knowledge may not be imputed to the current owner. We grant a peremptory writ of mandate to vacate the superior court’s judgment on the pleadings.

The issue is one of law, based solely upon the allegations of the third amended complaint. That complaint alleges that petitioners Ruben and Agustina Valenzuela (current owners, hereafter) bought their home in San Bruno in 1973. Within the first few years they experienced various settling problems, which have continued to the present time. For many years they tried, unsuccessfully, to uncover the cause of the problems and to remedy them. In 1986, they discovered that the problems were caused by installation of a defective drainage system in 1963 when a creek was filled to provide a building site for the San Bruno development They filed their original complaint…