Lennar Corporation, Lennar Homes of Texas Land and Construction, Limited, and Lennar Homes of Texas Sales and Marketing, Limited, D/B/A Village Builders v. Great American Insurance Company, American Dynasty Surplus Lines Insurance Company, Markel American Insurance Company Gerling America Insurance Company, RLI Insurance Company, Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania and Westchester Fire Ins Company

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 23, 2006
Docket14-02-00860-CV
StatusPublished

This text of Lennar Corporation, Lennar Homes of Texas Land and Construction, Limited, and Lennar Homes of Texas Sales and Marketing, Limited, D/B/A Village Builders v. Great American Insurance Company, American Dynasty Surplus Lines Insurance Company, Markel American Insurance Company Gerling America Insurance Company, RLI Insurance Company, Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania and Westchester Fire Ins Company (Lennar Corporation, Lennar Homes of Texas Land and Construction, Limited, and Lennar Homes of Texas Sales and Marketing, Limited, D/B/A Village Builders v. Great American Insurance Company, American Dynasty Surplus Lines Insurance Company, Markel American Insurance Company Gerling America Insurance Company, RLI Insurance Company, Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania and Westchester Fire Ins Company) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Lennar Corporation, Lennar Homes of Texas Land and Construction, Limited, and Lennar Homes of Texas Sales and Marketing, Limited, D/B/A Village Builders v. Great American Insurance Company, American Dynasty Surplus Lines Insurance Company, Markel American Insurance Company Gerling America Insurance Company, RLI Insurance Company, Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania and Westchester Fire Ins Company, (Tex. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

Appellees= Motions for Rehearing Overruled; Opinion of June 2, 2005 Withdrawn; Affirmed in Part; Reversed and Remanded in Part; and Substitute Majority Opinion filed February 23, 2006

Appellees= Motions for Rehearing Overruled; Opinion of June 2, 2005 Withdrawn; Affirmed in Part; Reversed and Remanded in Part; and Substitute Majority Opinion filed February 23, 2006.

In The

Fourteenth Court of Appeals

_______________

NO. 14-02-00860-CV

LENNAR CORPORATION, LENNAR HOMES OF TEXAS LAND

AND CONSTRUCTION, LIMITED, AND LENNAR HOMES OF TEXAS SALES AND MARKETING, LIMITED D/B/A VILLAGE BUILDERS, Appellants

V.

GREAT AMERICAN INSURANCE COMPANY,

AMERICAN DYNASTY SURPLUS LINES INSURANCE COMPANY,

MARKEL AMERICAN INSURANCE COMPANY,

GERLING AMERICA INSURANCE COMPANY, RLI INSURANCE COMPANY, INSURANCE COMPANY OF THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA

AND WESTCHESTER FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellees

On Appeal from the 270th District Court

Harris County, Texas

Trial Court Cause No. 00‑30034

S U B S T I T U T E   M A J O R I T Y   O P I N I O N

We overrule appellees= motions for rehearing.  We withdraw our opinion dated June 2, 2005 and issue this substitute majority opinion.


This case involves an insurance coverage dispute over whether the insured homebuilders are covered under six commercial general liability (ACGL@) policies for damages resulting from their application of defective stucco material to numerous homes.  Appellants, Lennar Corporation, Lennar Homes of Texas Land and Construction, Limited, and Lennar Homes of Texas Sales and Marketing, Limited, d/b/a Village Builders (collectively ALennar@) are the insureds.[1]  Appellees, Great American Insurance Company and American Dynasty Surplus Lines Insurance Company (collectively AAmerican Dynasty@),[2] Gerling America Insurance Company (AGerling@), Markel American Insurance Company (AMarkel@), RLI Insurance Company (ARLI@), Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania (AICSOP@), and Westchester Fire Insurance Company (AWestchester@), are the insurance carriers (collectively Athe carriers@).  Lennar appeals the denial of its motion for summary judgment and the grant of each carrier=s motion for summary judgment on the coverage issues.  Lennar also appeals the grant of American Dynasty=s separate motion for summary judgment on Lennar=s extra-contractual claims.

We affirm the denial of Lennar=s motion for summary judgment as to all carriers.  We affirm the summary judgments in favor of Gerling, RLI, ICSOP, and Westchester.  We reverse and remand the summary judgment on coverage issues in favor of Great American/American Dynasty.  We reverse and remand the summary judgment in favor of Markel.  We affirm the summary judgment in favor of Great American/American Dynasty on Lennar=s extra-contractual claims.


I.  Background

From early 1996 through late 1999, Lennar built more than 400 homes in the Houston area with a synthetic stucco called Exterior Insulation and Finish System (AEIFS@). According to Lennar, the manufacturers of EIFS marketed it as an ideal product for wood-framed homes.  However, Lennar contends it later discovered that EIFS is defectively designed such that it traps water behind it and does not allow the water to drain.  Consequently, the trapped water can cause damage, such as wood rot, mold, and termite infestation, among other problems, to other parts of the home.

Through the spring of 1999, Lennar had received a few complaints from homeowners about EIFS-related problems.  In the spring of 1999, the complaints increased after television programs regarding EIFS aired.  According to Lennar, it initially accepted the manufacturer=s position that the problems were caused by installation error and/or were typical of wood-framed homes.  Therefore, Lennar addressed these complaints on an individual basis.  However, by September 1999, after spending the summer responding to complaints,  Lennar became convinced EIFS is a defective product.

Thereafter, Lennar removed the EIFS from all the homes and replaced it with a traditional stucco.[3]  According to Lennar, it also repaired resulting water damage to the homes although the extent to which any homes sustained damage is disputed. 

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Lennar Corporation, Lennar Homes of Texas Land and Construction, Limited, and Lennar Homes of Texas Sales and Marketing, Limited, D/B/A Village Builders v. Great American Insurance Company, American Dynasty Surplus Lines Insurance Company, Markel American Insurance Company Gerling America Insurance Company, RLI Insurance Company, Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania and Westchester Fire Ins Company, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lennar-corporation-lennar-homes-of-texas-land-and-construction-limited-texapp-2006.