Montana Jury Awards Damages In Landslide Lawsuit

A Gallatin County jury has awarded over $1 million in damages to two couples who unknowingly purchased property on an active landslide at a private ski resort and golf community in southwestern Montana in 2005.

Last summer, a judge found two companies that sold lots at Spanish Peaks guilty of breach of several consumer protection laws for failing to tell the couples about the landslide.

The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported a jury heard six days of testimony before deciding Thursday to award Donald and Darla Harbaugh nearly $565,000 and Mel and Charline Harbaugh $545,000 in damages from Spanish Peaks Holdings.

Spanish Peaks Holdings II LLC filed for bankruptcy protection in October claiming $10 million to $50 million in assets and $100 million to $500 million in liabilities.