Briscoe v. National Union Fire Insurance

451 S.W.2d 205, 248 Ark. 220, 1970 Ark. LEXIS 1204
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedMarch 9, 1970
Docket5-5143
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 451 S.W.2d 205 (Briscoe v. National Union Fire Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Briscoe v. National Union Fire Insurance, 451 S.W.2d 205, 248 Ark. 220, 1970 Ark. LEXIS 1204 (Ark. 1970).

Opinion

J. Fred Jones, Justice.

Edward D. Briscoe, Jr. sued National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the Pulaski County Circuit to recover on a fire loss insurance policy issued to Briscoe by National. The court found that Briscoe had no insurable interest in the property at the time of the fire and had sustained no loss under the policy. Judgment was rendered for National and on appeal to this court Briscoe relies on the following point:

“Mr. Briscoe had an insurable interest in the property at the time of the fire.”

The record reveals that on November 30, 1967, Mr. Briscoe was working for the Guardian Company, a local real estate and loan corporation, as loan officer and appraiser. A Mr. Stigall was also employed by the Guardian Company as a real estate agent or salesman. Mr. O’Ouinn had listed his apartment building with the Guardian Company for sale and most of his dealings with Guardian were through Stigall. On November 30, 1967, Mr. Briscoe made an offer, through the Guardian Company, to purchase the O’Quinn property for $25,000. The pertinent sections, 2, 3 and 9 of the written offer are as follows:

“2. The Buyer will pay $25,000.00 for the property, $12,000.00 in cash and the balance of $13,000.00 as follows: 2nd mortgage loan of a 15 years duration with interest rate of 6Wo per annum and with payments of $113.25 per month, with the Buyer having option to pay the said 2nd mortgage in advance of maturity date without a penalty; subject to the Buyer obtaining a 1st mortgage loan on the subject property.
3. Special conditions: Subject to the Buyer giving the Seller a 1st mortgage loan of $25,000.00 with interest rate of 6Vz% per annum, with payments of $400.00 per month to suffice security to the Seller until the Buyer has had a reasonable time to secure the aforesaid 1st morgage loan, with a maximum time limit for the Buyer to obtain the 1st mtg. loan not to exceed 45 days from the date of the said $25,000.00 1st mortgage loan; also subject to in the event the Buyer cannot obtain the $12,000.00 cash item mentioned in paragraph No. 2 of this offer and acceptance by or before the said 45 days limit aforesaid mentioned, the Buyer will deed the subject property back to the Seller without a foreclosure suit in court or cause the Seller any legal action whatsoever to reclaim the subject property.
9. Buyer certifies that he has inspected the property and he is not relying upon any warranties, representations or statements of the Agent or Seller as to age or physical condition of improvements. The risk of loss or damage to the property by fire or other casualty occurring up to the time of transfer of title on the closing date is assumed by Seller.” (Emphasis supplied).

This offer was accepted by O’Quinn on December 1, 1967, and on December 2, 1967, O’Quinn executed a warranty deed transferring title in the property to Briscoe. Both Briscoe and O’Quinn testified that Briscoe executed a mortgage to O’Quinn for the full agreed purchase price of $25,000, but that mortgage was misplaced and never recorded. The deed to Briscoe was filed for record on December 8, 1967. Briscoe and O’Quinn agree that Briscoe never did actually own any interest in the property except an option to purchase as set out in the offer and acceptance. They both agree that Briscoe took the naked legal title under the warranty deed as a mere convenience and for the sole purpose of attempting to obtain a loan of $12,000 with which to pay the agreed down payment on the purchase price of the property.

On December 27, 1967, Briscoe obtained a fire insurance policy in the amount of $20,000 on the apartment building involved in this case, and the policy contained memorandum information as follows:

“[The Company has insured Briscoe] ... to the extent of the actual cash value of the property at the time of loss, but not exceeding the amount which it would cost to repair or replace the property with material of like kind and quality within a reasonable time after such loss, without allowance for any increased cost of repair or reconstruction by reason of any ordinance or law regulating construction or repair, and without compensation for loss resulting from interruption of business or manufacture, nor in any event for more than the interest of the insured, against all DIRECT LOSS BY FIRE...”

The policy provided options available to National in the settlement of any loss, as follows:

“It shall be optional with this Company to take all, or any part, of the property at the agreed or appraised value, and also to repair, rebuild or replace the property destroyed or damaged with other of like kind and quality within a reasonable time, on giving notice of its intention so to do within thirty days after the receipt of the proof of loss herein required.”

Mr. O’Quinn carried his own fire insurance on the property under a policy issued to him by a different company. On February 7, 1968, the apartment building was damaged by fire in the stipulated amount of $4,-306.65. Mr. O’Quinn repaired the damage and was paid the full amount of the cost of repairs by his own insurance company. Mr. Briscoe filed claim against National for the amount of the fire damage. The claim was denied by National and Briscoe sued for $4,306.65 damage; for statutory penalty, attorney’s fees and court cost. In rendering judgment for National, the trial court found as follows:

“The Court concludes that Mr. Briscoe had no insurable interest in the property as of the date of the fire; that his option to purchase same had expired and that Mr. O’Quinn’s letter written subsequently can only be treated as a new offer which was not accepted by Mr. Briscoe. It is further found that Mr. Briscoe really suffered no financial loss in this transaction and that as of the time of the loss, he had no exposure.”

National contends that Mr. Briscoe only had a 45 day option to purchase the property from O’Quinn; that the option had expired at the time of the fire and that Briscoe’s insurable interest, if he ever had any, expired with the option.

Briscoe contends that he was unable to obtain a loan on the property within the limited period of 45 days because an old mortgage, which had been paid but never satisfied of record, constituted a cloud on title requiring additional time for clearing. Briscoe contended that this time was extended, or its limitation waived, by letter from O’Quinn dated January 22, as follows:

“While waiting to get a reply from you in regard to the wall furnace that went out beyond repair at 823, West 45th. St. and broken down stuidio couchses [sic] at 4504 and 4508, Marion St. all in North Little Rock, Ark. through Mr. O. R. Stigall, which seemed all too long, our very good renter at 823, West 45th. St. moved out on this account. Most likely the others would have moved. We placed orders for the above items and called Mr. Stigall and reported on them.
Mr. Stigall then told us that you had returned from your trip and had aproved [sic] of the furnace but hoped we could repair the couches. We found out that the couches were beyond repairs before we called Mr. Stigall the first time.

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Related

Wilbanks & Wilbanks, Inc. v. Cobb
601 S.W.2d 601 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 1980)
Thurston National Insurance v. Hays
544 S.W.2d 853 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1977)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
451 S.W.2d 205, 248 Ark. 220, 1970 Ark. LEXIS 1204, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/briscoe-v-national-union-fire-insurance-ark-1970.