American Modern Home Insurance v. Reeds at Bayview Mobile Home Park, LLC

176 F. App'x 363
Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit·Decided April 14, 2006·No. 05-1149·Unpublished·Cited by 5 cases

Opinions

PER CURIAM:

Appellants, mobile home park owners, argue that appellees, their liability insurers, must defend a class action suit brought by park residents seeking damages stemming from improperly installed foundations. For the reasons stated below, we hold that the insurers were under no obligation to defend the class action but that the insurers have no right to reimbursement for their contribution to a fund to settle the claims against the parks.

I.

In August of 2002, residents of mobile home parks owned by appellants filed a class action suit in a Maryland state court, complaining about the parks’ alleged complicity in the faulty installation of the foundations for their mobile homes. J.A. 271-304. The residents claimed that the parks employed a company that defectively installed mobile home foundations, that the parks knew of the installer’s defective workmanship, and that the parks required residents to use this installer. Id. The complaint alleged violations of Maryland consumer protection and real property laws, breach of contract, fraud, negligent misrepresentation, conspiracy, unjust enrichment, fraud in the inducement, negligence, and breach of warranty. Id. at 293-303.

The parks tendered the residents’ complaint to their liability insurers, American [365]*365Modern Home Insurance Company (American Modern), Continental Insurance Company, and Niagra Insurance Company, for defense, see id. at 259-60, but the insurers denied coverage because “the Complaint does not seek damages for liability covered under the terms of the policies for ‘property damage’ caused by an ‘occurrence,’ ” id. at 391-409.

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American Modern Home Insurance v. Reeds at Bayview Mobile Home Park, LLC, 176 F. App'x 363 (4th Cir. 2006).

176 F. App'x 363 (American Modern Home Insurance v. Reeds at Bayview Mobile Home Park, LLC) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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