CHARLESTON – A Kanawha County couple says the home they purchased from a prominent Charleston physician had water issues they say were fraudulently hidden during the sale.
Thomas and Jennifer Minturn filed their complaint December 15 in Kanawha Circuit Court against David and Cynthia Patton. David Patton is a Charleston-area obstetrician and gynecologist, and Thomas Minturn owns the Chick-fil-A Southridge location.
According to the complaint, the Minturns purchased a residence at 147 Newcomer Rod in South Charleston in August 2021 from the Pattons. The 5,645 square feet home was built in 2000 and is situated on 9.3 acres. It has seven bedrooms, 5.5 baths, a pool and a wooded lot. The recorded purchase price the Minturns paid of the home is $790,000.
On the seller’s Property Condition Disclosure, the Pattons answered no to a question regarding current or previous moisture and/or water problems in the basement or crawlspace. It also says David Patton answered no to a question about whether water from any source had been inside any structure on the property causing damage.
During a pre-closing home inspection, the Minturns say the inspector found water stains on the foundation walls behind the furnace, signs of patching on the gypsum board in the craft room and stains on the seams of the interior drain curb.
“The findings prompted the Minturns to inquire further about previous water issues,” the complaint states, adding that the Pattons provided a proposal from Basement Systems of West Virginia from December 2010. The Pattons also said the issues had been fixed in 2010-2011 and there had not been water issues in the past 10 years.
“Unbeknownst to the Minturns, and in direct contrast to the representations made by the Pattons, the Pattons had been in contact with Basement Systems numerous times from 2010 to closing to correct various issues with water intrusion in the basement of the residence,” the complaint states.
The complaint lists contacts made between the Pattons and Basement Systems in 2012, 2018 and 2019 about a leaking by a drain and behind a wall, a flooded basement, water in the basement, a leaking water line and water in another room.
Basement Systems found groundwater intrusion in the basement craft room and mold behind sheetrock on June 13, 2019. In April 2021, Cynthia Patton told Basement Systems there still was a leak, according to the complaint.
“The Pattons never disclosed this investigation or finding to the Minturns, even after the Minturns inquired about previous water intrusion issues,” the complaint states. “The Pattons never completed the fix recommended by Basement Systems. …
“The Minturns only discovered the extent and nature of the water issues in the basement months after closing on the residence. … Over the next several months – and before discovering the ongoing water intrusion – the Minturns spent significant amounts of money remodeling and upgrading the residence.”
They say the discovered water entering the basement in May 2022.
That’s when they “began to uncover the extent and nature of the ongoing water issues in the residence,” the complaint states. “The Minturns would not have purchased the residence had they been alerted to the extent and nature of the ongoing water issues prior to closing.”
The Minturns accuse the Pattons of breach of contract, breach of duty of good faith and fair dealing, fraudulent misrepresentations and negligent misrepresentation.
They seek compensatory damages, damages for annoyance and inconvenience, punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interests, court costs, attorney fees and other relief.
The Minturns are being represented by J. Mark Adkins and S. Andrew Stonestreet of Bowles Rice in Charleston. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Kenneth Ballard.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 22-C-1026