Superior Court of the State of California Merced County

JOSEPH SAUCEDO V. STONEFIELD HOME, INC., Case No. 19cv-04303

A court authorized Notice. This is not a solicitation from a lawyer.

NOTICE OF PENDENCY OF CLASS ACTION

  All owners of originally constructed single family homes in the State of California that, pursuant to Civil Code Section 941 and California Rule of Court, Appendix I, Emergency Rule 9, were substantially completed since July 11, 2011, where Stonefield Home, Inc. and/or U/C Construction Co, was the builder and one or more Simpson straps were a part of the foundation systems, embedded in the foundations, load bearing components, and slabs, and attached to framing members in the Homes intending to protect the Homes against winds and seismic activity.

IF YOU MEET THIS DESCRIPTION, YOU SHOULD READ THE NOTICE CAREFULLY BECAUSE IT WILL AFFECT YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS

PURPOSE OF THE NOTICE

The notice informs you about the lawsuit that is being litigated on behalf of a certain class of persons. You received the Notice because you have been identified as a Class Member—that is, you have been identified as an owner of a single-family residential home for which Stonefield Home, Inc. was the builder where your home was constructed after July 11, 2011 and the construction plans for your home indicate that Simpson straps were to be installed in the foundation.

WHAT THE LAWSUIT IS ABOUT

There is currently pending in the Merced County Superior Court a class action lawsuit entitled JOSEPH SAUCEDO V. STONEFIELD HOME, INC., Case No. 19cv-04303 (“Lawsuit”). Plaintiffs Leon Morris, Tina Morris, Eliab Muniz, Oscar Reyes, and Patricia Rodriguez (the “Plaintiffs”) filed the lawsuit against Stonefield Home, Inc. (“Stonefield”) and on behalf of themselves and those persons described above. The lawsuit claims that the foundations of certain homes built by Stonefield in the cities of Los Banos and Atwater located in Merced County contain Simpson metal straps that are intended to resist wind and seismic forces are corroding which constitutes a violation of one or more of the Standards for Residential Construction set forth at Civil Code section 896.  Each of the homes included in the class are alleged to contain Simpson straps where each home can have as little as 5 and up to 20 such straps in the foundation.

Your Legal Rights and Options in this Settlement:
Do Nothing	If you want to participate in this class action lawsuit, no further action on your part is required. By doing nothing, you agree to be represented by the attorneys identified as class counsel and by the plaintiffs as the class representatives for purposes of this lawsuit.
Exclude Yourself	You have the right to exclude yourself ("opt-out") from the Class, meaning you will not be legally bound by the outcome of this class action lawsuit. If you opt-out, you will not be entitled to any portion of any award given to plaintiffs in this lawsuit, although you will retain your right to sue the defendants based on the subject matter of this lawsuit. To "opt-out", you must complete the "Opt-Out Form" accompanying the Notice and follow all instructions on that form.