Trinity Homes LLC v. Ohio Casualty Insurance

864 F. Supp. 2d 744, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 43699, 2012 WL 1067746
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Indiana
DecidedMarch 29, 2012
DocketNo. 1:04-cv-1920-SEB-DML
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 864 F. Supp. 2d 744 (Trinity Homes LLC v. Ohio Casualty Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Trinity Homes LLC v. Ohio Casualty Insurance, 864 F. Supp. 2d 744, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 43699, 2012 WL 1067746 (S.D. Ind. 2012).

Opinion

ORDER ADDRESSING CROSS-MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

SARAH EVANS BARKER, District Judge.

This action for a declaratory judgment and damages has once more reached the summary judgment stage. After various settlements and rulings as well as a remand from the Seventh Circuit, the remaining parties and issues have been pared considerably. Trinity Homes LLC (“Trinity”) and Beazer Homes Investments LLC (“Beazer”) remain plaintiffs, but only Ohio Casualty Insurance Company (“Ohio Casualty”) remains as a defendant. Ohio Casualty has filed a motion for summary judgment (Dkt. # 409) on all claims against it, and Trinity and Beazer have filed a cross-motion seeking partial summary judgment (Dkt. # 431) in their favor. For the reasons detailed below, Ohio Casualty’s Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART, and Trinity and Beazer’s motion is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

Trinity is an Indiana limited liability company with its principal place of business in Indiana and is one of several construction related companies owned by Beazer, which is a limited liability company incorporated under the laws of Delaware having its principal place of business in Atlanta, Georgia. Beazer’s predecessor, Beazer Homes Investment Corporation, acquired the stock of Crossman Communities, Inc. in 2002. Crossman and its subsidiary owned all interests in Trinity. Beazer and Trinity are in the business of residential real estate development and construction.

Ohio Casualty’s home office is in Ohio, where it is incorporated. It sells insur[747]*747anee policies to commercial entities such as Plaintiffs. It purchased a book of business from Great American Insurance Company, a subsidiary of which had sold commercial general liability policies (“CGL”) and umbrella liability policies to Trinity, covering the period of time between May 1, 1994 through May 1, 1999. For ease of reference, we will refer to these policies as the Ohio Casualty policies. Trinity sold and acted as a general contractor for the construction of new homes in Central Indiana throughout the period of time in which the Ohio Casualty policies were in place.1

Beginning in 2002, purchasers of some of the new Trinity homes filed lawsuits or asserted claims against Plaintiffs, alleging that the faulty work of Plaintiffs’ subcontractors resulted in water intrusion, which in turn damaged various components of the purchasers’ homes. Trinity set up a remediation protocol to investigate and repair damage to homes and the sources of water intrusion. One of the lawsuits filed against Trinity and Beazer by homeowners, Colon v. Trinity Homes, LLC and Beazer Homes Investment Corp., Indiana Cause No. 29D02-0404-PL-374, was a class action filed in Hamilton County, Indiana. The lawsuit alleged structural property damage within the class members’ homes, and it is this lawsuit which underlies the remaining dispute in this coverage litigation.

The putative class in the Colon lawsuit included all owners of residential structures in Indiana constructed and marketed by Trinity and/or Beazer which were built without a one-inch gap and vapor barrier between the exterior brick veneer and the structural wall. In October 2004, a settlement class was certified which constituted a subset of the putative class and included those homeowners who had closed on the sale of a Trinity home between June 1, 1998, and October 31, 2002. The court-approved settlement incorporated the remediation protocol which Trinity had already started and which has resulted in the Plaintiffs paying out over $58,000,000 in investigative and repair costs. These payments included repairs to the homes of both class members and other homeowners who had asserted damage as a result of poor workmanship by Trinity’s subcontractors.

In August 2003, Trinity and Beazer gave notice of the Colon class action to the insurance broker who had obtained its insurance coverage policies. Ohio Casualty’s representative has testified that the company does not contest the timeliness of that notice. An email from that representative in June 2004 sets forth a general reservation of rights by Ohio Casualty and also refers to the broker, Hylant, as its agent. No defense to the Colon suit was provided by Ohio Casualty until 15 months following the notice which Trinity had given and, in September 2005, Ohio Casualty and the Plaintiffs reached a separate agreed resolution and release of any claims based upon the insurer’s defense obligations.

Of the more than $58,000,000 paid out by Plaintiffs to investigate and repair water damage to homes, they claim that $7,877,647 was incurred for repair costs and expenses for homes which closed during the period of time the Ohio Casualty policies were in place. Plaintiffs assert that same amount to be the “maximum amount that Trinity could recover in indemnity” under both the CGL and umbrella policies, representing “property dam[748]*748age” for which they were liable. Affidavit of William Fisher at par. 12 (Dkt. # 430-1).

On September 25, 2009, 2009 WL 3163108, we entered an order which granted summary judgment in favor of Ohio Casualty, finding that under Indiana law the cost of repairing faulty workmanship is not deemed property damage under the language of the insurance policies, if the damaged property is limited to the construction project itself. In so holding, we relied upon the body of then controlling case law in Indiana, including Sheehan Construction Company, Inc. v. Continental Casualty Company, 908 N.E.2d 305 (Ind.Ct.App.2009); Amerisure, Inc. v. Wurster Const. Co., 818 N.E.2d 998, 1003 (Ind.Ct.App.2004); and, R.N. Thompson & Associates, Inc. v. Monroe Guar. Ins. Co., 686 N.E.2d 160, 163 (Ind.Ct.App.1997). However, while our ruling was on appeal to the Seventh Circuit, the Indiana Supreme Court accepted transfer in the Sheehan case, vacating the Indiana Court of Appeal’s 2009 opinion. Thereafter, the Indiana Supreme Court issued an opinion which abrogated most of the analytical framework from the lower appellate court decisions upon which we had relied. It did so by finding that faulty workmanship does constitute an accident, and therefore is a covered occurrence, so long as the faulty work fell outside of expectations or foresight. Sheehan Construction Co., Inc. v. Continental Cas. Co., 935 N.E.2d 160, 170-71 (Ind.2010). Recognizing that the “precedential landscape has changed,” the Seventh Circuit sent our case back to us with instructions to reconsider our decision in light of the Indiana Supreme Court’s decision in Sheehan, leaving for our determination “the application of any exclusions or limitations in the policy, as well as any other state law doctrines.” Trinity Homes LLC v. Ohio Cas. Ins. Co., 629 F.3d 653, 657 (7th Cir.2010).

II. Pertinent Language From The Insurance Policies

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864 F. Supp. 2d 744, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 43699, 2012 WL 1067746, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/trinity-homes-llc-v-ohio-casualty-insurance-insd-2012.