Builder Did Work Without Change Orders

Rental Agreement Indemnity Clause ‘Unconscionable’

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 9, 2012
Tags: Judge Robert P. Doherty Jr., Landlord/Tenant, Roanoke County Circuit Court, Virginia Circuit Courts

A pre-drafted form rental agreement that required a tenant to indemnify the landlord for damages caused by the landlord’s negligence is a contract of adhesion and unenforceable under the Virginia Residential Landlord & Tenant Act, and a Roanoke County Circuit Court refuses to enforce the agreement against a tenant and his family whose property was [...]

Court Uphold Firm’s Tax Collection Fee

By Deborah Elkins
Published: September 24, 2012
Tags: Judge Robert P. Doherty Jr., Roanoke County Circuit Court, Taxation, Virginia Circuit Courts

A bank that holds a note secured by a credit line deed of trust on property that owes back taxes and that he bank wants to redeem prior to sale loses its challenge to attorney’s fees the county treasurer wishes to pay to the law firm it hired to collect delinquent taxes; the Roanoke County [...]

‘Good Faith’ Saves Search for Tools

By Deborah Elkins
Published: September 10, 2012
Tags: Judge Robert P. Doherty Jr., Salem Circuit Court, Search & Seizure, Virginia Circuit Courts

A search warrant for power tools, copper and accelerants was not supported by an affidavit that recounted facts such as a convicted felon’s recent delivery to the residence and his purchase of a possible accelerant, but the Salem Circuit Court applies the good faith exception and denies defendant’s motion to suppress. The affidavit indicated power [...]

Highway Worker’s Truck ‘Use’ Disputed

By Deborah Elkins
Published: July 5, 2012
Tags: Judge Robert P. Doherty Jr., Negligence, Roanoke County Circuit Court, Virginia Circuit Courts

Decedent, a member of a paving crew operating a dump truck filled with asphalt, who was struck and killed by two vehicles that entered the highway construction site and struck a front-end loader, pushing it back into the dump truck as decedent stood between the two vehicles, may have been “operating” the dump truck to [...]

Lateral Land Support is Ongoing Duty

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 7, 2012
Tags: Judge Robert P. Doherty Jr., Real Estate, Salem Circuit Court, Virginia Circuit Courts

Although a landowner’s initial claim about an adjacent landowner’s failure to provide lateral support may have originated more than five years ago, with a prior owner, the duty to provide lateral support is ongoing and a Salem Circuit Court judge declines to dismiss plaintiff’s suit on the ground of laches. Reminiscent of an earlier plea [...]

No Personal Liability After Novation

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 1, 2012
Tags: Creditor’s Rights, Judge Robert P. Doherty Jr., Virginia Circuit Courts

Although a couple’s golfing buddy personally signed the original promissory notes he gave to the couple on loans, his contract for a novation given after the couple lost the original notes indicated debtor signed on behalf of his insurance company, and debtor is not personally liable for the debts, says a Roanoke County Circuit Court. [...]

No Credit for Post-Separation House Payments

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 30, 2012
Tags: Domestic Relations, Judge Robert P. Doherty Jr., Salem Circuit Court, Virginia Circuit Courts

A Salem Circuit Court says husband is not entitled to credit for making post-separation mortgage payments on the marital home occupied by wife, because the parties agreed he would continue such payments in lieu of a pendente lite hearing for determination of temporary spousal support and debt payments; also, the court declines to credit against [...]

Family business pays the price

By Peter Vieth
Published: January 2, 2012
Tags: Judge Robert P. Doherty Jr., Roanoke County Circuit Court

Family business ventures face plenty of pitfalls. The familial trust can work against family members, if they fail to start as a formal business instead of as family. A new decision from Roanoke County shows what happened when two brothers who ran a local construction firm failed to be each other’s keeper. They discovered a [...]

Wife Owes Support for Seven Children

By Deborah Elkins
Published: December 1, 2011
Tags: Domestic Relations, Judge Robert P. Doherty Jr., Salem Circuit Court, Virginia Circuit Courts

A couple who, for religious reasons, home-schooled their seven children and depended solely on husband’s income as an engineer, are ordered by the Salem Circuit Court to divide the marital share of the home, which husband still occupies with the children, to give wife $93,197 for 69 percent of the marital share after husband refinances [...]