Palma v. Verex Assurance, Inc.

79 F.3d 1453, 1996 U.S. App. LEXIS 7896, 1996 WL 146245
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedApril 16, 1996
Docket95-20034
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 79 F.3d 1453 (Palma v. Verex Assurance, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Palma v. Verex Assurance, Inc., 79 F.3d 1453, 1996 U.S. App. LEXIS 7896, 1996 WL 146245 (5th Cir. 1996).

Opinions

ROBERT M. PARKER, Circuit Judge:

I. FACTS

On November 28, 1983, plaintiff-appellant Nancy Palma (“Palma”) borrowed $121,300 from City Federal Savings & Loan (“City Federal”) to purchase a condominium. As a condition of the loan, Palma was required to purchase mortgage insurance to protect City Federal from a loss in the event she defaulted on the loan. The mortgage insurance was purchased by City Federal from defendant-appellee Verex Assurance, Inc. (“Verex”). The premiums were paid with Palma’s money, which had been placed in an escrow account.

Palma lived in the condominium until November of 1986, when she moved out of the property and used it as rental property. In 1988, Palma defaulted on her obligation to repay the note. After the default City Federal foreclosed on the condominium. On May 3, 1988, the property was sold at public [1455]*1455auction for $30,800 to City Federal, the mortgage holder. After the foreclosure there remained a principal balance of $115,825.14 due and owing to City Federal under the terms of the note. On June 23, 1989, Verex paid City Federal $51,122.47 pursuant to the mortgage insurance policy and received an assignment of the entire deficiency due on Palma’s note.

On April 1, 1991, Verex, as subsequent assignee of City Federal, demanded that Pal-ma repay $117,521.98 as the “deficiency balance due.” This amount included accrued interest and costs of foreclosure, as well as a credit for the proceeds received from the foreclosure of the condominium. The amount demanded did not include a credit for the proceeds Verex paid to City Federal under the mortgage guarantee insurance policy.

We have had difficulty in sorting out the record concerning the economic facts of the claims in this litigation and have been unable to resolve some apparent inconsistencies. However, we believe we can at least get in the ballpark with a summary that approaches accuracy.

Palma paid $121,300 for the house. She made mortgage payments and payments for the mortgage insurance for approximately four years. However, after four years of mortgage payments and a $30,800 credit to her balance from the foreclosure proceeds, she still owed $115,825.14. The difference apparently was attributable to charges assessed against Palma by City Federal’s attorneys. To state it another way, Palma was assessed foreclosure costs that in effect wiped out the $30,800 credit from the foreclosure proceeds. However, the story is far from over. By the time the court granted Verex’s motion for summary judgment and ruled against Palma on her wrongful foreclosure claim she was assessed additional attorneys’ fees for Verex’s lawyers in the astonishing amount of $225,750. This additional amount raised the judgment against Palma to a total of $419,898.12.

II. PROCEEDINGS BELOW

Palma filed suit in state district court alleging that Verex’s pursuit of the deficiency was in violation of the terms of the mortgage insurance policy. Based upon diversity jurisdiction Verex removed the suit to the Southern District of Texas and filed a counterclaim for the deficiency and attorneys’ fees.

Palma then sought to have her claims against Verex certified as a class action. The case was referred to a magistrate judge for pretrial management. The magistrate initially recommended that some of Palma’s claims be certified in a class action but set aside that recommendation after reconsidering Palma’s standing. The magistrate found Palma was not a third-party beneficiary of the insurance contract and recommended that class certification be denied as to any and all claims based upon an assertion of third-party beneficiary status. The magistrate then recommended that Verex’s motion for summary judgment be granted and recommended the dismissal of all of Palma’s claims except those alleging debt collection violations, violations of the Deceptive Trade Practices Act (“DTPA”), and wrongful foreclosure. The district court adopted the magistrate’s recommendations thereby denying class certification of the dismissed claims and granting Verex’s motion for summary judgment of all claims, except wrongful foreclosure.

The case proceeded to trial on Palma’s wrongful foreclosure claim. After a one day bench trial the district court issued its findings of facts and conclusions of law and entered final judgment in favor of Verex. The judgment awarded Verex $419,898.12. Pal-ma appealed.

III. ANALYSIS

A. STANDING & ART. 21.21

The district court granted Verex’s motion for summary judgment as to Palma’s claims based upon alleged violations of the Texas Insurance Code after concluding that Palma did not have standing to assert those claims under art. 21.21(16) of the Texas Insurance Code.2 We review the district [1456]*1456court’s grant of summary judgment de novo. Thomas v. Price, 975 F.2d 231, 235 (5th Cir.1992).

The district court’s jurisdiction in this case was based on diversity of citizenship and it correctly held that it was bound to apply the substantive law of the State of Texas. Erie R. Co. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64, 78, 58 S.Ct. 817, 822, 82 L.Ed. 1188 (1938). We begin our review of the district court’s decision by examining the applicable law.

Art. 21.21(16) of the Texas Insurance Code provides:

Any person who has sustained actual damages as a result of another’s engaging in an act or practice declared in § 4 of this Article ... [to be] unfair or deceptive acts ... in the business of insurance or in any practice defined by § 17.46 of the Business and Commerce Code ... as an unlawful trade practice may maintain an action against the person ... engaging in such acts, (emphasis added).

Although “any person” would appear to be sufficiently broad to permit Palma to have standing, it appears to have been narrowly construed. This court, interpreting the laws of Texas, has held that “absent privity of contract or some sort of reliance by the person bringing the claim on the words or deeds of the insurer, a suit will not lie under art. 21.21.” Warfield v. Fidelity and Deposit Co., 904 F.2d 322, 327 (5th Cir.1990). In reaching this holding the court analyzed two decisions from the Texas courts of appeal that had addressed standing under art. 21.21. The first case was Chaffin v. Transamerica Ins. Co., 731 S.W.2d 728, 731 (Tex.App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 1987, writ ref'd n.r.e.). The court, discussing Chaffin, stated that the Texas court “held that the term ‘person’ in art. 21.21 means either an insured or a beneficiary of the policy.” Warfield, 904 F.2d at 326. The second case was Hermann Hosp. v. National Standard Ins. Co., 776 S.W.2d 249, 252 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1989, writ denied). The court noted that Hermann broadened standing under art. 21.21 to include persons who had relied on representations of the insured. Warfield, 904 F.2d at 327. Despite expressly recognizing that Chaffin

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Bluebook (online)
79 F.3d 1453, 1996 U.S. App. LEXIS 7896, 1996 WL 146245, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/palma-v-verex-assurance-inc-ca5-1996.