Brantley v. State Farm Ins. Co.

799 So. 2d 638, 2001 WL 1335686
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 31, 2001
Docket35,148-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 799 So. 2d 638 (Brantley v. State Farm Ins. Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brantley v. State Farm Ins. Co., 799 So. 2d 638, 2001 WL 1335686 (La. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

799 So.2d 638 (2001)

Larry Tyrone BRANTLEY, et ux, Plaintiffs-Appellants,
v.
STATE FARM INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 35,148-CA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

October 31, 2001.

James Sharp, Jr., Monroe, Counsel for Appellants.

Crawford & Anzelmo, by Brian E. Crawford, K. Douglas Wheeler, Monroe, Counsel for Appellee.

Before NORRIS, STEWART and GASKINS, JJ.

STEWART, J.

Plaintiffs Larry and Ellen Brantley appeal from the grant of summary judgment in favor of defendant State Farm Insurance Company ("State Farm"). For the following reasons, we reverse and remand.

FACTS

The Brantleys owned a house at 1606 Oaklawn Drive in Monroe. The house was insured by State Farm under a rental dwelling policy and was used as rental property. Because the Brantleys failed to make mortgage payments, on March 12, 1996, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation ("FHLMC") filed a petition in the 4th Judicial District Court for executory process to seize and sell the property. The district court ordered the Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office to seize the property, and on March 28, 1996, the sheriff complied with the order and seized the property.

On June 21, 1996, State Farm claims adjuster Lawrence Crumpton met with Mr. Brantley at the home where he investigated two damage claims—a wind damage claim and a vandalism claim. State *639 Farm found $300.00 in wind damage to the home's roof and found $2,227.63 in vandalism damage. Crumpton said in an affidavit that Mr. Brantley told him that the property had been occupied or inhabited within 30 days prior to the date of the claim and that he would not have paid the claim if he knew the house had been unoccupied. On June 24, 1996, State Farm paid the Brantleys by check $50 for the roof damage claim ($300 damage minus $250 deductible) and $1,320.71 for the vandalism claim. The Brantleys stated that they never negotiated these checks because the payment for the vandalism claim was inadequate.

On June 23, 1996, three days prior to the scheduled sheriff's sale, a suspicious fire destroyed the house. Monroe Fire Department investigator Kenneth Gibbs stated in an affidavit that the burned residence "appeared uninhabited and vacated." In his deposition, Mr. Brantley testified that the home was leased to a family, Willie and Janet Allen, at the time of the fire, and that at that time the Allens were "more or less in the process of moving, but they still were staying in the house." He also said that he was unable to contact them after the fire. No tenant has come forward and claimed to have been in the house at the time of the fire. According to State Farm, the property was sold at sheriff's sale on June 26, 1996.

The Brantleys got an estimate from one contractor, W. Robinson Home Care, that repair of the home would cost $57,000. At the time, the Brantleys were living part of the time in Monroe and part of the time in California. Their address in Monroe was 908 Moore Road, a municipal address formerly designated as rural Route 6, Box 459. In his deposition, Mr. Brantley said that mail addressed to the rural address was delivered to the new municipal address because the mailman knew where the mail was supposed to go.

On July 11, 1996, State Farm claim specialist and investigator Wayne Van wrote Mr. Brantley and asked him and Mrs. Brantley to contact Van as soon as possible. This communication, like all of the State Farm communications to the Brantleys, was addressed to the Brantleys' rural route address. The letter bears the legend "CERTIFIED: RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED" but no certified mail receipt appears in the exhibits to show that the Brantleys received the letter. Van sent the Brantleys a second letter requesting contact on July 29, 1996. Like the first letter, this letter indicates that it was sent by certified mail, but no return receipt appears in the record. On August 15, 1996, Mr. Charles D. Hudson, resident claim superintendent with State Farm, wrote Mr. Brantley and informed him that the insurer was reserving its rights to pay the claim because State Farm's preliminary investigation revealed that the cause of the fire "may be incendiary in origin." This letter does not indicate that it was sent via certified mail. Also on August 15, 1996, Hudson wrote another letter to Mr. Brantley and informed him that his cooperation with State Farm's investigation was required by the insurance agreement and asked him to contact Wayne Van. This letter indicates that it was sent via certified mail, but no return receipt appears in the record. At Mrs. Brantley's deposition, State Farm's attorney showed her a return receipt dated August 17 signed by a "Tina someone." Mrs. Brantley said that she did not know anyone named Tina and that no such person was authorized to receive mail for her.

On August 23, 1996, Van wrote Mr. Brantley and enclosed a blank proof of loss form. This letter does not indicate that it was sent by certified mail. In their depositions, *640 the Brantleys said that they did not receive any of the letters from State Farm.

According to Van, he attempted several times to contact the Brantleys, and finally spoke to Mrs. Brantley by telephone. In an affidavit, Van stated that during this conversation Mrs. Brantley refused to meet with him to discuss the loss or provide a telephone number or address for correspondence concerning the claim. In her deposition, Mrs. Brantley denied this and said that she had spoken several times to representatives of State Farm about the fire claim. She said that she had called her agent, Jimmy Terry, and that a State Farm representative had come to the home and "whatever ... paperwork they had to do, they did it right there at the house when they came over." She also said that she had spoken to Miss Beth Snellings at State Farm about the claim.

On December 3, 1996, Van closed the investigation into the claim for the stated reason that the Brantleys had failed to cooperate in the investigation. Thereafter, State Farm refused to pay the fire damage claim.

On May 30, 1997, the Brantleys filed suit in district court against State Farm. The petition alleged:

That on or about the (sic) 6th day of June 1996 the premises sustained damage by fire and by other means as will be shown on the trial of this case.

On July 2, 1997, State Farm filed an exception of prematurity on the grounds that the Brantleys had not complied with policy requirements concerning inventory, proof of loss and examination under oath. The trial court never ruled on this exception.

On May 21, 1998, State Farm filed a motion for summary judgment. The motion cited several grounds for relief, including allegations that the Brantleys no longer owned the home at the time of the fire, that the Brantleys did not cooperate with State Farm investigators and that the house was vacant and unoccupied at the time of the fire. On August 18, 1998, the Brantleys filed an opposition to the motion; the opposition "pleads herein by reference the depositions given by [Mr. and Mrs. Brantley], a copy of their depositions which are attached to and made a part of this answer." These depositions are included as exhibits to this appeal record and are stamped "filed" on their cover by the Ouachita Parish Clerk on August 18, 1998.

On August 31, 1998, State Farm filed a certified copy of the insurance policy into the record for purposes of deciding the motion for summary judgment. The policy provides, in pertinent part:

RENTAL DWELLING POLICY— SPECIAL FORM 3 AGREEMENT
We agree to provide the insurance described in this policy.

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Related

Brantley v. State Farm Ins. Co.
865 So. 2d 265 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2004)

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799 So. 2d 638, 2001 WL 1335686, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brantley-v-state-farm-ins-co-lactapp-2001.