Morton v. Automobile Insurance

102 F. Supp. 3d 1248, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 46368, 2015 WL 1586092
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Alabama
DecidedApril 9, 2015
DocketCase No. 2:13-cv-01603-RDP
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 102 F. Supp. 3d 1248 (Morton v. Automobile Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Morton v. Automobile Insurance, 102 F. Supp. 3d 1248, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 46368, 2015 WL 1586092 (N.D. Ala. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

R. DAVID PROCTOR, District Judge.

This case is before the court on Defendant Automobile Insurance Company of Hartford, Connecticut’s Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 34), filed November 19, 2014. The Motion has been fully briefed. (Docs. 35, 38, 39). The only claim remaining before the court is Count Five of Plaintiffs Complaint for breach of contract. CSee Doc. 1, Ex. Á, PI. Compl. ¶¶ 36-38; Doc. 12 (dismissing all other counts)). Specifically, Plaintiff alleges in that count that Defendant unlawfully breached its contract with her (ie., Defendant is in breach of obligations imposed by Plaintiff homeowner’s insurance policy covering certain property Plaintiff owned) after a fire loss in July 2007. For the purposes of this Motion, Defendant argues that, because Plaintiff rented out the insured premises and failed to satisfy certain of her post-loss obligations, Plaintiff is not entitled to recover under that insurance policy.

After careful review of Defendánt’s Motion (Doc. 34), along with the briefs and submissions filed in connection with it, and for the reasons outlined in this opinion, the court concludes that there are no material issues of fact in this case and that Defendant is entitled to summary judgment on Plaintiffs breach of contract claim as a matter of law. Accordingly, Defendant’s Motion is due to be granted, and Plaintiffs case is due to be dismissed with prejudice.

I. Standard of Review

Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(c), summary judgment is proper “if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there [1251]*1251is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). The party asking for summary judgment always bears the initial responsibility of informing the court of the basis for its motion and identifying, those portions of the pleadings or filings which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548. Once the moving party has met its burden, Rule 56(e) requires the nonmoving party to go beyond the pleadings and by her own affidavits, or by the depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, designate specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial. See id. at 324, 106 S.Ct. 2548; Gargiulo v. G.M. Sales, Inc., 131 F.3d 995, 999 (11th Cir.1997) (facing a “properly supported motion for summary judgment, [the nonmoving party] must come forward with specific factual evidence, presenting more than mere allegations”).

The substantive law will identify which facts are material and which are irrelevant. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). All reasonable doubts about the facts and all justifiable inferences are resolved in favor of the nonmovant. See Fitzpatrick v. City of Atlanta, 2 F.3d 1112, 1115 (11th Cir.1993). A dispute is genuine “if the evidénce is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.” ’ Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505. If the' evidence is merely colorable, or is not significantly probative, summary judgment may be granted. See id. at 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505.

II. Facts1

■ Plaintiff owned a house located on 2407 Longbow Drive in Birmingham, Alabama (the “Property”), but she had’ not lived there since 2004 when she moved into her [1252]*1252husband A1 Morton’s house at 701 Cedar-brook Circle, Birmingham, Alabama. (Doc. 36, Ex. B, PI. Dep. 44:5-9, 46:7-14, 47:8-14). In 2004 or 2005, Plaintiff began renting the Property through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Section 8 housing program. (Id. at 64:1265:8). Plaintiff claims she rented the Property fully furnished, up to and including the time of the fire. (Id. at 68:17-69,:3, 204:16-206:8). In March 2006, Plaintiff began renting the Property to Shaunna Reese. (Id. at 74:11-75:5; Doc. 36, Def.’s Ex. 3 to PI. Dep., Reese Lease). Reese lived at the Property with her two daughters. (Doc. 36, Ex. C, Reese Dep. 29:16-18). Plaintiff received $445 through Section 8 and an additional $200 directly from Reese in monthly rent. (Doc. 36, Ex. B, PI. Dep. 88:16-90:22).

Despite the fact that Plaintiff had not resided at the Property since 2004, Plaintiff continued to purchase and renew an AICH homeowner’s insurance policy on the Property (the “AICH policy”), which ran through August 6, 2007. (Doc. 36, Ex. 1, AICH Policy). The AICH policy only provides coverage for the insured’s “residence premises,” which it defines as “the one or two family dwelling, other structures, and grounds or that part of any other building where you reside and which is shown as the ‘residence premises’ in the Declarations.” (Id. at 2 of 21 (emphasis added)). Plaintiff is the named insured under the AICH policy, and the policy defines “you” and “your” as the named insured. (Id. at 1 of 21). The Declarations page of the AICH policy lists the location of the “Residence Premises” as 2407 Longbow Drive, Birmingham, Alabama, 35214., (Doc. 36, Ex. I, Declarations, at 1 of 2),

The AICH policy excludes coverage for personal property owned-.by an insured, if that “property [is] contained in an apartment regularly rented or held for rental to others by any insured” or that “property [is] rented or held for rental to others away from the residence premises.” (Doc. 36, Ex. I, AICH Policy, at 4 of 21). In addition, the AICH policy contains certain limitations for property used for business purposes. (See, e.g., id. at 3 of 21). Defendant argues that, as amended by policy forms HA-300 AL (12-02) and 55621 (06-99), its liability is limited to $1,250 for Plaintiffs personal property used for business purposes. (See Doc. 36, Ex. I, HA-300 AL (12-02), at 1 of 4; Doc 36, Ex. I, 55621 (06-99), at 1 of 4).

In Plaintiffs Objection to Summary Judgment, Plaintiff claims that, before renting out her Property, she contacted an insurance agent at Clark and Associates. (Doc. 38 at 2).2 According to Plaintiff, she explained that she intended to rent the Property through Section 8 housing and wanted to make certain “that her insurance was good under the circumstances.” (Id.). Plaintiff alleges the agent assured her that she had no reason for concern. (Id.). Additionally, Plaintiff suggests Section 8 authorities contacted Clark and Associates to verify that the AICH policy was in good standing. (Id.). Plaintiff argues she detrimentally relied upon her insurance agent’s answers concerning the AICH policy’s validity and verification of policy rules. (Id.).

On July 23, 2007, six days before the fire, Reese arrived home to the Property to find the back door unlocked, lighter fluid poured over the kitchen counter, and the stove on. (Doc. 36, Ex. C, Reese Dep. [1253]*125364:11-66:9, 68:4-12; Doc. 36, Ex. D, Incident Report, July 23, 2007, at 2).

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102 F. Supp. 3d 1248, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 46368, 2015 WL 1586092, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/morton-v-automobile-insurance-alnd-2015.