Fritz Klann and Dmitry Vilner recently won partial summary judgment for their client, a Colorado roofing company, in a case that raised important issues under the economic loss rule and the Homeowners Protection Act, section 13-20-806(7), C.R.S. (the “HPA”).  The client contracted to install a roof on a home in Cherry Hills Village.  When the client was paid only about 25% of the contract price, it placed a mechanic’s lien on the home and sued for breach of contract and to foreclose on the lien.  The defendants were a trust that purportedly owned the home, as well as a husband and wife who sometimes lived in the home (the husband had signed the roofing contract with the client).  The husband counterclaimed against the client for breach of contract, breach of warranty, fraud, and negligence.  Fritz and Dmitry successfully argued that the husband’s counterclaim for fraud was barred by the economic loss rule, and that the breach of contract counterclaim was barred because the client had substantially performed and because the husband was not justified in failing to pay.  Finally, Fritz and Dmitry successfully argued that the husband’s only remedy under the contract was to seek repairs for demonstrated leakage.  Although the husband argued that this limitation was void under the HPA, the court disagreed and found that the husband could not take advantage of the HPA because the husband admitted he was not an “owner” of the home.

Enjoy this cute selfie of our volunteers. Thank you Fritz Klann and Louie for representing White and Steele!  They worked in the warehouse, Fritz in the loading/dock compost area, and Louie brought in items to be sorted, primarily oranges and tomatoes.  This is not always a very fun job as they get to sort the rotten fruits and vegetables, but never fear, this food, although it doesn’t make it to the marketplace, gets used as compost and anything not nutritious enough to make it to the shelves goes to the pigs.  Nothing is truly wasted!  Louie's highlight of the night was the presentation prior to the volunteering on the Art of Listening.

Thank you to Fritz Klann, Susan Portillos and Misty Faulkenberry for their volunteer time in September!  Misty and Susan worked in the marketplace assisting shoppers and keeping the shelves neat and stocked. Fritz luckily dressed warmly enough to keep the refrigerator and freezer sections stocked all night.

There are some exciting changes in the marketplace of Metro Caring! Shoppers no longer have to keep to an item limit in a section - it is a “take what you need” marketplace now. This means constant stocking of shelves and coolers all evening which means volunteers are needed more than ever!

Not only is this change in policy difficult for the shoppers to grasp but the volunteers need to remember also not to limit anyone. We encourage them to take what they need but keep in mind to keep it at about a week’s worth of groceries. Not only do they have food in abundance to be able to do this, Metro Caring now has enough money to supplement the donations by purchasing the more preferred items. They had all shoppers do a survey last month as to their most desirable foods in the marketplace, giving them a list to choose from putting in order their preference. They will use these surveys to decide what to purchase.

"It was so fun to see people’s reactions to this change, especially those that come and shop every month. They still have suggested numbers of items in each section on a shopping list at this time, and one individual said to me, "no, we like to follow the rules, it says 5 items".  I explained these were now suggestions and encouraged him to take what he needed. He was still hesitant but did take another peanut butter! Another gentleman said “you are the second person who has told me that, are you sure?” With a big smile on his face!" -Susan Portillos

"It is amazing to see a food bank that is striving to provide an experience like shopping in a regular grocery store." -Fritz Klann

"It was actually a lot of fun being able to help others. I know some of them were embarrassed and uncomfortable given the situation but I was able to talk with a few people and kind of ease the level of discomfort. I was thankful for the opportunity and look forward to it next month. Susan was also a great person to have walk me through my first time there and she definitely has a passion to help others and it is very inspiring." -Misty Faulkenberry

It was a great night! White and Steele's next volunteering night is Tuesday, October 25, 2016.  This is a great opportunity to give back to the community in an uplifting way. Come check it out!