First American Title Insurance Co. v. Robertson

990 N.E.2d 9, 2013 WL 1952095, 2013 Ind. App. LEXIS 223
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 13, 2013
DocketNo. 49A04-1206-PL-326
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 990 N.E.2d 9 (First American Title Insurance Co. v. Robertson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
First American Title Insurance Co. v. Robertson, 990 N.E.2d 9, 2013 WL 1952095, 2013 Ind. App. LEXIS 223 (Ind. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

OPINION

ROBB, Chief Judge.

Case Summary and Issues

First American Title Insurance Company (“First American”) filed a verified petition for judicial review and declaratory relief against Stephen W. Robertson in his official capacity as Insurance Commissioner of the State of Indiana (the “Commissioner”). First American sought a declaration and judgment that the Commissioner’s order setting an investigatory hearing was void because it was issued outside the statutory time frame. First American appeals the trial court’s subsequent denial of its petition, raising the following restated issues: 1) whether the Commissioner’s failure to comply with the statutory deadline rendered his order void, and 2) whether the trial court erred by requiring a separate showing of prejudice. On cross-appeal, the Commissioner appeals the trial court’s denial of his motion to dismiss First American’s petition, raising the following restated issues: 1) whether First American’s failure to exhaust its administrative remedies deprived the trial court of subject matter jurisdiction over the petition, and 2) whether First American submitted sufficient materials for judicial review. Concluding the Commissioner’s claim with regard to the failure to exhaust administrative remedies is waived and there were sufficient materials to enable judicial review, but that the Commissioner’s failure to comply with the statutory deadline rendered his order void and the trial court erred by requiring a separate showing of prejudice, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.

Facts and Procedural History

First American is an insurer licensed to do business in the state of Indiana. In [11]*11March 2009, the Commissioner appointed a third party to perform a market conduct examination of First American. The third party examiner completed its examination and filed the market conduct examination report (the “report”) with the Commissioner on September 30, 2010. The Commissioner forwarded the report to First American on October 18, 2010. First American filed its response and rebuttal on November 10, 2010. On December 20, 2010, the Commissioner requested, and First American agreed, to retroactively extend the statutory thirty day deadline for an additional thirty days. The parties met on January 26, 2011, at which time they were unable to reach a resolution of the issues. The Commissioner requested and First American agreed to extend the deadline to February 4, 2011. On March 21, 2011, the Commissioner, through his agents, requested that First American agree to a third extension of time up through April 15, 2011. First American denied this request. On April 15, 2011, the Commissioner issued an order appointing an administrative law judge and setting an investigatory hearing on the report. On April 19, 2011, a notice of hearing was issued by the administrative law judge, setting the hearing for July 12, 2011.

On May 17, 2011, First American filed a verified petition for judicial review and declaratory relief with the trial court. First American sought a judgment and declaration that the Commissioner’s failure to act on the report within the statutory time frame rendered his order void. The Commissioner filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that First American failed to serve the Attorney General with its petition and that it failed to submit the agency record to the court. The trial court heard oral argument on the motion to dismiss on September 28, 2011. The court denied the motion, finding that First American properly served the Attorney General and that the documents attached to the petition were sufficient for judicial review.

After both parties submitted briefs on the merits of the petition for review and the Commissioner renewed his motion to dismiss on the ground that First American had not properly filed an agency record with the court, the trial court heard oral argument on these matters on April 23, 2012. The trial court denied the motion to dismiss, finding again that the materials submitted were sufficient for judicial review. However, the court denied the petition for judicial review and declaratory relief on the merits. In its order, the trial court stated that under the guidelines of the Administrative Orders and Procedures Act (“AOPA”), “the Court must find both that an agency action fits into one of the five aforementioned categories and that the agency action prejudiced the petitioner,” and found that First American did not meet its burden of proof with regard to the second prong of prejudice. Appellant’s Appendix at 11. First American now appeals and the Commissioner cross-appeals. Additional facts will be provided as necessary.

Discussion and Decision

I. Standard of Review

Judicial review of administrative decisions is governed by the AOPA. Ind. Code § 4-21.5-2-0.1(a). When reviewing the decision of an administrative agency, we are bound by the same standard of review as the trial court. The Kroger Co. v. Plan Comm’n of Town of Plainfield, 953 N.E.2d 536, 539 (Ind.Ct.App.2011), trans. denied. A court may set aside an agency action if the petitioner was prejudiced by an agency action that fits into one of five categories set forth in Indiana Code section 4-21.5-5-14(d). On appeal, to the extent the trial court’s factual findings were [12]*12based on a paper record, review is de novo. Equicor Dev., Inc. v. Westfield-Washington Twp. Plan Comm’n, 758 N.E.2d 34, 37 (Ind.2001). Similarly, we review a trial court’s ruling on a motion to dismiss de novo where the facts are not in dispute and the court ruled on a paper record. Wayne Cnty. Prop. Tax Assessment Bd. of Appeals v. United Ancient Order of Druids-Grove No. 29, 847 N.E.2d 924, 926 (Ind.2006).

II. Cross-Appeal

A. Subject Matter Jurisdiction

We address first the jurisdictional argument, as jurisdiction is a threshold issue. On cross-appeal, the Commissioner argues that First American’s failure to exhaust its administrative remedies deprived the trial court of subject matter jurisdiction over the petition. This is the first time the Commissioner has raised this issue. The Commissioner argues that this issue is properly before the court by citing the rule that subject matter jurisdiction cannot be waived and may be raised at any time. First American argues that the failure to exhaust administrative remedies goes to whether the trial court had jurisdiction over this particular case and, as such, is a procedural error that can be waived.1 We agree with First American.

While it is well-established that a court’s subject matter jurisdiction cannot be waived, whether a particular error impacts a court’s subject matter jurisdiction is not as clear. Our supreme court recently clarified the concept of subject matter jurisdiction and stated the following:

Attorneys and judges alike frequently characterize a claim of procedural error as one of jurisdictional dimension.

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Related

First American Title Insurance Co. v. Robertson
19 N.E.3d 757 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2014)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
990 N.E.2d 9, 2013 WL 1952095, 2013 Ind. App. LEXIS 223, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/first-american-title-insurance-co-v-robertson-indctapp-2013.