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REPORTED IN THE COURT OF SPECIAL APPEALS OF MARYLAND No. 1026 September Term, 2001

HERITAGE HARBOUR, L.L.C., ET AL.

v.

JOHN J. REYNOLDS, INC., ET AL.

Davis, Sonner, Greene, JJ.

Opinion by Davis, J.

Filed: April 3, 2002

This is an appeal from the grant of the motion to dismiss of appellees John J. Reynolds, Inc., et al., by the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County (Robert H. Heller, J.). Appellants Heritage

Harbour, L.L.C., et al., present one question for our review, which we rephrase for clarity as follows: Did the trial court err in dismissing appellants' complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted? We answer the question presented in the negative and affirm the judgment of the trial court. We hold that the trial court

properly dismissed appellants' complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted and that, in any event, appellants would not have survived the motion to dismiss because of the Economic Loss Doctrine and appellants' failure to file the required certificate of a qualified expert.

PROCEDURAL AND FACTUAL BACKGROUND
On December 16, 1998, the Council of Unit Owners of South River Condominium (the Council) filed an eleven-count complaint (the Underlying Suit) against appellants Heritage Harbour, L.L.C., Daniel Aguilar, Jo Ann Aguilar, Columbia Pacific Management, Inc., Securitization Pool, L.P., Richard K. Sontgerath, Daniel R. Baty, and Stanley L. Baty, developers of the South River Condominium Project (the Project). The suit, filed in the Circuit Court for

Anne Arundel County, alleged the existence of numerous structural and non-structural defects in the buildings located at the South

- 2 River Condominiums. Arbitration.1 On July 25, 2000, appellants filed a complaint against John J. Reynolds, Inc., Tiber Construction, Belfast Valley Contractors, Inc., South River Joint Venture, Atlas Air Conditioning, Cochran Plumbing, M & W Caulking Applicators, Buchanan Iron Works, Sun Precast, Building Analytics, Coastal Construction & Restoration, Inc., Criterium Hare Engineers (currently trading as Adelberg Hare & Associates, Inc.), RAL Designs, Reifman & Blum Associates, Dolco Aluminum, MLM Concrete, Plus One Masonry, Vanco Enterprises, Inc., Cochran Mechanical, Inc., and Mike Jordan Construction, the The Appellants then filed a Petition to Compel

Project's original developers, designers, and contractors.2

complaint sought contribution and contractual indemnification "[i]n the event that [appellants], individually or jointly, are held or found to be liable to any party to the Underlying Litigation." Appellees3 Adelburg, Hare & Associates, Atlas Air Conditioning Co., Belfast Valley Contractors, Inc., Building Analytics, Cochran Plumbing, Inc., Dolco Aluminum, Inc., Plus One Masonry, Inc., RAL

The petition was still pending as of the date of the initial hearing on the motions to dismiss in the case sub judice. We do not denominate all defendants in the instant case as appellees, as not all defendants join in the present appeal. As the grounds for the instant appeal arise from the trial court's dismissal of the suit, only those parties that filed motions to dismiss are labeled appellees for the purposes of this opinion.
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- 3 Designs, Inc., Reifman & Blum Associates, Inc., South River Joint Venture, Inc., Sun Precast Co., Inc., and Vanco Enterprises, Inc., filed motions to dismiss. Atlas Air Conditioning Co., Belfast

Valley Contractors, Inc., Cochran Plumbing & Heating, Inc., Plus One Masonry, RAL Designs, Reifman & Blum Associates, South River Joint Venture, and Vanco Enterprises, Inc., moved to dismiss for failure to state a claim pursuant to Md. Rule 2-322(b)(2).

Adelberg, Hare & Associates, Inc., Building Analytics, South River Joint Venture, RAL Designs, and Reifman & Blum Associates moved to dismiss for failure to file the required certificate of a qualified expert pursuant to Md. Code (1998 Repl. Vol.), Cts. & Jud. Proc. (C.J.)

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