Mutual of Enumclaw Ins. Co. v. T & G CONST., INC.

199 P.3d 984, 143 Wash. App. 667
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedApril 2, 2007
Docket56144-8-I, 57679-8-I
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 199 P.3d 984 (Mutual of Enumclaw Ins. Co. v. T & G CONST., INC.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mutual of Enumclaw Ins. Co. v. T & G CONST., INC., 199 P.3d 984, 143 Wash. App. 667 (Wash. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

199 P.3d 984 (2007)
137 Wash.App. 1055

MUTUAL OF ENUMCLAW INSURANCE COMPANY, Intervenor/Appellant,
v.
T & G CONSTRUCTION, INC., and Villas at Harbour Pointe Owners Association, Respondents.

Nos. 56144-8-I, 57679-8-I.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 1.

April 2, 2007.

*986 James Morton Beecher, Brent William Beecher, Law Offices of Hackett, Beecher, & Hart, Seattle, WA, for Intervenor/Appellant.

Daniel Eli Zimberoff, Dina J. Wong, Barker Martin PS, Seattle, WA, for Respondents.

SCHINDLER, A.C.J.

¶ 1 Absent bad faith, the court's determination that a stipulated covenant judgment settlement agreement between an insured and the claimant is reasonable does not prevent an insurer in a declaratory judgment action from contesting coverage and its obligation to indemnify the insured. In this declaratory judgment action, the trial court erroneously relied on the findings and conclusions from the reasonableness hearing in ruling that Mutual of Enumclaw (MOE) was as a matter of law estopped from challenging coverage and its obligation to indemnify and that MOE was obligated to pay the stipulated judgment amount. We conclude MOE is entitled to a determination on whether there is coverage under the policy and if so, the extent of MOE's obligation to indemnify the insured. We reverse the orders granting summary judgment, vacate the judgment entered against MOE, and remand.

FACTS

Condominium Construction Defect Lawsuit

¶ 2 In June 2002, a homeowners association, the Villas at Harbour Pointe Owners Association (the Association), sued the condominium developer and the general contractor, Construction Associations, Inc.(CAI), for $7.3 million in construction and design defects damages. CAI sued a number of subcontractors including T & G Construction, Inc. (T & G), the subcontractor responsible for installing the exterior siding. CAI alleged T & G was liable for breach of contract, breach of warranty, and indemnification. MOE defended T & G under a reservation of rights to deny coverage.[1]

¶ 3 During the course of discovery, MOE learned that T & G was administratively dissolved on October 23, 2000. T & G filed a motion for summary judgment dismissal arguing that the statutory two-year time limit to file claims against a dissolved corporation barred CAI's lawsuit against it. The trial court ruled the two-year time limitation did not bar CAI's post-dissolution claims against *987 T & G, and there were material issues of fact concerning whether CAI's pre-dissolution claims were barred.

¶ 4 The Association, the developer, CAI, and T & G each retained independent experts to investigate the water damage and determine the scope of repair. The experts agreed that T & G's defective siding work resulted in water damage, but disagreed as to the method and cost of repair.

¶ 5 After failing to reach an agreement on the method and cost of repair, the Association filed a motion for summary judgment arguing that the alleged design and construction defects violated the Uniform Building Code (UBC) and the Washington Condominium Act (WCA). The court ruled that a number of the alleged defects violated the UBC and the WCA. As to T & G's work, the court ruled the improperly installed weather barrier and flashing violated the UBC and the WCA.

¶ 6 Following a court-ordered mediation in September 2004, the Association reached a settlement with all parties except T & G. As part of the settlement, CAI assigned its claims against T & G to the Association. On October 15, 2004, without MOE's consent, T & G and the Association entered into a settlement agreement. T & G agreed to entry of a $3.3 million stipulated judgment and to assign its coverage and bad faith claims against MOE to the Association. In exchange, the Association agreed to not execute on the judgment and to dismiss the claims against T & G.

¶ 7 After entering into the settlement agreement, the Association notified MOE and asked the court to schedule a reasonableness hearing. The court scheduled a hearing and granted MOE's motion to intervene to challenge the reasonableness of the settlement agreement between the Association and T & G.[2] At the conclusion of the hearing, the court determined the settlement agreement was reasonable and entered a stipulated judgment for $3 million against T & G.

Declaratory Judgment Action

¶ 8 Following entry of the $3 million stipulated judgment, MOE filed an amended complaint in its declaratory judgment action against the Association and T & G.[3] In the amended complaint, MOE asked the court to rule that under the policy, it had no obligation to indemnify T & G. The Association, as T & G's assignee, filed a counterclaim, contending MOE was estopped from denying coverage or asserting any policy exclusions contesting the amount of the stipulated judgment. The Association also alleged bad faith, breach of contract, violation of the Consumer Protection Act, unjust enrichment and negligence.

¶ 9 In a series of summary judgment decisions, the trial court relied on the findings and conclusions from the reasonableness determination of the settlement agreement in the underlying construction litigation in ruling that MOE was estopped from contesting coverage based on the two-year time limitation for claims against dissolved corporations; that exclusions "1. Damage to Your Work", "m. Damage to Impaired Property", and "n. Recall of Products, Work or Impaired Property" did not apply; and that MOE was obligated to pay the stipulated $3 million judgment amount. The court then entered a $3 million judgment against MOE plus interest, costs, and attorney fees. MOE appeals.

ANALYSIS

¶ 10 MOE contends that the trial court in the declaratory judgment action erred in ruling that it could not contest coverage or its obligation to indemnify based on the findings and conclusions that supported the court's reasonableness determination of the settlement in the underlying construction action.

¶ 11 On review of summary judgment, this court engages in the same inquiry as the trial *988 court. Reynolds v. Hicks, 134 Wash.2d 491, 495, 951 P.2d 761 (1998). Summary judgment is proper where there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. CR 56(c). Mains Farm Homeowners Ass'n v. Worthington, 121 Wash.2d 810, 813, 854 P.2d 1072 (1993). The court must view the facts and all reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Mason v. Kenyon Zero Storage, 71 Wash.App. 5, 8-9, 856 P.2d 410 (1993). Only when reasonable minds could reach but one conclusion on the evidence, should the court grant summary judgment. Smith v. Safeco, 150 Wash.2d 478, 485, 78 P.3d 1274 (2003). We also review questions of law de novo. State, Dep't of Ecology v. Campbell & Gwinn, 146 Wash.2d 1, 9, 43 P.3d 4 (2000).

¶ 12 The duty to indemnify is a separate and distinct obligation from the duty to defend. Alaska Nat'l Ins. Co. v. Bryan, 125 Wash.App. 24, 104 P.3d 1 (2004), rev.

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Related

Mutual of Enumclaw Insurance v. T&G Construction, Inc.
165 Wash. 2d 255 (Washington Supreme Court, 2008)

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Bluebook (online)
199 P.3d 984, 143 Wash. App. 667, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mutual-of-enumclaw-ins-co-v-t-g-const-inc-washctapp-2007.