Caplen v. SN Servicing Corp.

343 F. App'x 833
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedAugust 31, 2009
DocketNo. 07-4050
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 343 F. App'x 833 (Caplen v. SN Servicing Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Caplen v. SN Servicing Corp., 343 F. App'x 833 (3d Cir. 2009).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

FISHER, Circuit Judge.

Joi Caplen appeals from the District Court’s orders entering summary judgment against her. We will affirm.

I.

We write exclusively for the parties, who are familiar with the factual context and legal history of this case. Therefore, we will set forth only those facts necessary to our analysis.

In March 1993, Caplen and her husband, Larry, executed a promissory note in favor of Mellon Bank, secured by a mortgage on their home in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. Under the terms of the note and mortgage, the Caplens agreed to carry hazard insurance on the property and to provide evidence of insurance to the bank; if they failed to do so, the bank was authorized to “force place” insurance on the property— that is, to independently obtain insurance and add the cost of the premiums to the principal due under the note — in order to protect its security interest in the property-1

The Caplens eventually defaulted on the note. On June 5, 2000, Mellon Bank initiated foreclosure proceedings in the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County. While that action was pending, Mellon Bank sold the note and mortgage to Alaska Seaboard Partners, LP (ASP). ASP’s servicing affiliate, Security National Servicing Corporation (SNSC), then sent a series of letters to the Caplens, informing them that ASP had acquired their loan and asking them to provide proof of insurance. The Caplens did not respond to these letters.

On March 14, 2002, the Court of Common Pleas entered judgment against the Caplens in the amount of $116,662.38, plus post-judgment interest. Soon afterwards, [835]*835the Caplens and ASP entered into a forbearance agreement, under which the Ca-plens again agreed, among other things, to provide proof of insurance on their property. When the Caplens still did not supply proof of insurance, SNSC obtained a force-placed insurance policy underwritten at Lloyd’s.

In December 2003, SNSC cancelled its Lloyd’s policy and replaced it with a policy issued by Security National Insurance Company (SNI), a captive insurance company that provides force-placed insurance to Security National Master Holding Company, LLC (SNMHC) and its affiliated companies, including ASP and SNSC. The SNI force-placed policy contained an “other insurance” clause, which provided:

“If there is available to the Assured any other insurance at the time of loss ... covering the same property against the same perils insured against under this Policy ... this insurance shall not be called upon in contribution until the amount due from all such [other] insurance shall have been exhausted; it being the intent of this insurance to indemnify the Assured for only the difference between the amount due from such other insurance and the amount of actual loss sustained by the Assured not exceeding, however, the applicable limit specified in this Policy.”

App. 559 ¶ 14. The SNI policy listed “Security National Holding Company, LLC” as the “Assured.” App. 553.

On November 10, 2004, a fire destroyed the Caplens’ home. Soon afterwards, the Caplens sent a letter to SNSC to inform it of the fire but, as they admit, used an incorrect zip code; SNSC never received the incorrectly addressed letter. The Ca-plens then defaulted on the note for a second time, prompting ASP to file a motion to reassess damages in the foreclosure action. In connection with that motion, SNSC sent an inspector to the Caplens’ property on April 20, 2005; when the inspector saw the damage caused by the fire, he quickly informed SNSC.

A few weeks later, SNSC was contacted by an attorney representing the Blue Bell Woods Community Association — the homeowners’ association for the development in which the Caplens’ home was located— who informed SNSC that the Caplens’ property was covered by an insurance policy issued to the association by the Greater New York Mutual Insurance Company and that the proceeds of that policy would be used to repair the property. Among the many provisions of the Greater New York policy was a clause titled “Unit-Owner’s Insurance,” which specified: “A unit-owner may have other insurance covering the same property as this insurance. This insurance is intended to be primary, and not to contribute with such other insurance.” App. 116 ¶ 6.

On June 24, 2005, the Court of Common Pleas granted ASP’s motion to reassess damages and entered an amended judgment against the Caplens in the amount of $129,127.44 — including $1,607.13 for premiums on the SNI force-placed insurance policy from March 2001 through February 2005 — plus post-judgment interest. A little over a year later, the Caplens sold their property for a net profit. They ultimately paid $2,407.21 to ASP for premiums on the SNI policy through June 2006.

On November 15, 2005, Joi Caplen filed this suit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against SNMHC, ASP, SNSC, and SNI, as well as Alaska Seaboard Investments, Inc. (ASI), Security National Master Manager, LLC, and Robin P. Arkley II. She asserted claims predicated on breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, fraud, abuse of process, and bad faith under Pa. Cons.Stat. Ann. § 8371, among other claims. Following discovery, [836]*836the defendants moved for summary judgment, which the District Court granted as to all counts. This timely appeal followed.

II.

The District Court had jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332 and we have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We exercise plenary review over a district court’s decision to grant summary judgment, applying the same standard the district court should apply. Union Pac. R.R. Co. v. Greentree Transp. Trucking Co., 293 F.3d 120, 125 (3d Cir.2002). Summary judgment is appropriate only “if the pleadings, the discovery and disclosure materials on file, and any affidavits show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). The facts must be viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party and all reasonable inferences from the evidence must be drawn in that party’s favor. Conopco, Inc. v. United States, 572 F.3d 162, 165 (3d Cir.2009). ‘We may affirm the District Court’s order granting summary judgment on different grounds, so long as the record supports the judgment.” Id. (citing Turner v. Crawford Square Apartments III, L.P., 449 F.3d 542, 548 (3d Cir.2006) and Guthrie v. Lady Jane Collieries, Inc., 722 F.2d 1141, 1145 n. 1 (3d Cir.1983)).

III.

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343 F. App'x 833, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/caplen-v-sn-servicing-corp-ca3-2009.