Article Courtesy of The Real Deal

By Ina Cordle   

Published October 28, 2016

The nation’s largest homebuilder, D.R. Horton, engaged in deceptive practices that forced the bankruptcy of the homeowners association for Majorca Isles in Miami Gardens, a U.S. bankruptcy judge in Miami ruled.

Following a three-day trial, Judge A. Jay Cristol of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida entered a judgment against D.R. Horton and its employees for $16.3 million in damages, including $12.5 million in punitive damages, and said the company violated Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.

The court found that Fort Worth, Texas-based D.R. Horton and its employees engaged in “immoral, unethical, oppressive, and unscrupulous” trade practices its financial benefit, conspiracy, and breaches of fiduciary duty. “These actions by D.R. Horton can only be classified somewhere between not nice and evil,” the judge said, referring to the actions as “a modern day story of David and Goliath.” He said he awarded the punitive damages of $12.5 million to punish and deter future “unlawful, malicious” conduct.  Read more: