Johnson v. Safeco Insurance Co.

240 F. Supp. 3d 555, 2017 WL 879211, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 30997
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Texas
DecidedMarch 6, 2017
DocketCIVIL ACTION NO. 3:15-CV-1939-B
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 240 F. Supp. 3d 555 (Johnson v. Safeco Insurance Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Johnson v. Safeco Insurance Co., 240 F. Supp. 3d 555, 2017 WL 879211, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 30997 (N.D. Tex. 2017).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

JANE J. BOYLE, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Before the Court is Defendant Safeco Insurance Company of Indiana’s Motion for Summary Judgment. Doc. 34. For the following reasons, the Court GRANTS in part and DENIES in part Safeco’s Motion.

I.

BACKGROUND

This is an insurance coverage dispute. The basic facts are not much at issue. Plaintiffs owned a home in Richardson, Texas. Doc. 1, Ex. A, Pis.’ Orig. Pet. ¶ 11. They insured it with a Texas Homeowner’s Policy (Policy) issued by Safeco. Doc. 45, Pis.’ Resp. to Def.’s Mot. for Summ. J. ¶ 6 [hereinafter Pis.’ Resp.]. The Policy was in effect from December 14, 2013, through December 14, 2014. Id.

Towards the end of March 2014, Plaintiffs’ washing machine ovérflowed' and flooded parts of their home. Id. ¶ 7. “Plaintiffs dried the home to the best of their ability using towels, a wet vacuum, and rented high-speed water remediation fans, which ran for three days.” Id. Plaintiffs believed that their actions would mitigate any damage. See id. ¶ 8. It did not.1 Id.

As a result, Plaintiffs considered repairing the water damage and, while they were at it, making some' improvements to the property. Id. To that end, they spoke with a few architects about plans and even applied for a home-improvement loan. Id. But in the end, they decided against repáir and opted instead to sell the house. Id.

Plaintiffs listed the property for sale on July 3, 2014. Doc. 35, Def.’s Br. 4. As part of the listing process, Plaintiffs completed. and signed a disclosure notice describing the property’s condition. Id. at 4-5 (citing Doc. 36, Def.’s App. Supp. Def.’s Mot. for Summ. J. 160:4-161:9. [hereinafter Def.’s App]). It did not mention any water damage. Id. (citing Doc. 36, Def.’s App. 160:4-15, 179-83, 219:16—220:3). Nevertheless, Plaintiffs entered into a contract to sell the [559]*559home to Shaddock Caldwell Builder & Developers for $219,300.00 on July 14, 2014. Id.', Doc. 45, Pis.’.Resp. ¶9. The transaction closed on July 28, 2014. Doc. 35, Def.’s Br. 5.

But three days before, on July 25, 2014, Plaintiffs—who continued to live at ■ the house for several months after selling it— filed a claim2 with Safeco for water damage from the March washing-machine overflow. Doc. 45, Pis.’ Resp. ¶¶ 10-11. That claim eventually gave rise to this suit.

Safeco contends—and Plaintiffs do not contests—that Plaintiffs never informed it that their home had been sold and “notified Shaddock Caldwell that they intended to remove a sign identifying the [property as a lot for sale before insurance adjusters arrived.” Doc. 35, Def.’s Br. 6 (citing Doc. 36, Def.’s App. 190:7-191:3, 193:13-16, 207). Safeco, thus operating on the assumption that Plaintiffs still owned the home, inspected and adjusted parts of Plaintiffs’ claim for property damage. Id.; Doc. 45, Pis.’ Resp. ¶ 10. After applying the Policy’s deductible of $1,879.00, Safeco paid Plaintiffs $176.51. Doc. 35, Def.’s Br. 6 (citing Doc. 36, Def.’s App. 2); Doc. 45, Pis.’ Resp. ¶ 11.

Plaintiffs’ claim also involved some personal-property damage by the washing-machine overflow. Doc. 35, Def.’s Br. 6. Safeco “sent a letter to Plaintiffs enclosing payment for certain personal-property items and attaching an inventory identifying [other] items of property for which [it] needed additional information” before payment could be issued.” Id. at 6 (citing Doc. 36, Def.’s App. 122-26). Safeco maintains that Plaintiffs never provided the requested information, and “[a]fter several months of requests by Safeco for Plaintiffs to provide additional information went ignored, Safeco closed the claim.” Id. (citing Doe. 36, Def.’s App. 4-5, 130-32, 167:11-22, 168:24-169:3). Plaintiffs, by contrast, opine that Safeco had all the information it needed either in possession or available for inspection but just chose to underpay for their personal property. Doc. 45, Pis.’ Resp. ¶ 12.

At any rate, Plaintiffs felt that. Safeco “grossly underpaid” them for their claim. Id. So they retained counsel and invoked appraisal. Id. (citing Doc. 45-1, Pis.’ App. Supp. Pis.’ Resp. 187-89 [hereinafter Pis.’ App.]). Safeco, in turn, designated an appraiser. Id. But before the dispute was resolved by appraisal, Safeco learned that Plaintiffs had sold their home. Id. For that reason, Safeco concluded, that appraisal was unnecessary. Id. (citing Doc. 45-1, Pis.’ App. 190). Safeco concludes even more so now that Shaddock Caldwell has demolished the house. See Doc. 35, Def.’s Br. 8.

Plaintiffs concluded otherwise, and on that basis filed suit in Texas state court asserting claims against Safeco for fraud, breach of contract, violations of chapters 541 and 542 of the Texas Insurance Code, and breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing. Doc. .1, Ex. A, Pis.’ Orig. Pet. ¶¶ 30-32, 40-53. Safeco removed the case to federal court on diversity grounds.3 Doc. [560]*5601, Notice of Removal. Then it moved for summary judgment on all of Plaintiffs’ claims. Doc. 34, Def.’s Mot. for Summ. J. Plaintiffs responded. Doc. 45, Pis.’ Resp. Safeco replied in turn. Doc. 49, Def.’s Reply Opp’n Pis.’ Resp [hereinafter Def.’s Reply]. The Motion is therefore ready for review.

II.

LEGAL STANDARD

Summary judgment is appropriate “if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). A dispute “is ‘genuine’ if the evidence is sufficient for a reasonable jury to return a verdict for the non-moving party.” Burrell v. Dr. Pepper/Seven Up Bottling Grp., 482 F.3d 408, 411 (5th Cir. 2007). And a fact “is ‘material’ if its resolution could affect the outcome of the action.” Id.

The summary judgment movant bears the burden of proving that no genuine issue of material fact exists. Latimer v. Smithkline & French Labs., 919 F.2d 301, 303 (5th Cir. 1990). Usually, this requires the movant to identify “those portions of the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with affidavits, if any, which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact.” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986) (internal quotation marks omitted). But if the non-movant ultimately bears the burden of proof at trial, the movant may satisfy its burden just by pointing to the absence of evidence supporting the non-movant’s case. Id. at 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548.

If the movant meets that burden, then it falls to the non-movant to “show with significant probative evidence that there exists a genuine issue of material fact.” Hamilton v. Segue Software Inc., 232 F.3d 473, 477 (5th Cir. 2000) (internal quotation marks omitted) (citing Conkling v. Turner,

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240 F. Supp. 3d 555, 2017 WL 879211, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 30997, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/johnson-v-safeco-insurance-co-txnd-2017.