Creekview Associates L.P., PMI Equities Corp., Scott Sternberg v. Travelers Casualty & Surety Co.
Published: Feb. 1, 2001 | Result Date: Nov. 21, 2000 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: 96C02110 Verdict – $1,048,000
Judge
Court
Contra Costa Superior
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Eric H. Ivary
(ADR Services Inc.)
Defendant
Experts
Plaintiff
Nigel Renton
(technical)
Karen E. Kluska
(technical)
John Moehringer
(technical)
Jerry A. Ramsey
(technical)
Francis J. Offerman III
(technical)
Steve Saarman
(technical)
Bernard R. Martin
(technical)
Facts
According to the defendant: The plaintiffs, owners of an apartment complex located in El Sobrante, made a claim
against the builder, Paragon Group Inc., for damages relating to allegedly defective construction. Paragon was
a Texas-based builder with construction projects all over the United States.
Aetna Casualty & Surety Co., now Travelers Casualty & Surety Co., was the liability insurer for the builder.
Aetna also issued a "monthly reporting" buildersÆ risk policy to Paragon. Paragon reported the plaintiffsÆ
property for coverage for a brief time early in the construction process, but then removed the coverage in favor
of the plaintiffsÆ own policy. All reported losses occurred after ParagonsÆ risk coverage was removed and also
after the plaintiffs procured their own permanent property coverage. Additionally, all reported losses allegedly
appeared to be excluded from coverage as costs of making good faulty construction. Aetna agreed to fund
millions of dollars of repairs to the apartment complex on the liability claim without awaiting a lawsuit by the
plaintiffs against Paragon. Aetna also agreed to make a series of monthly payments to the plaintiffs based on
representations that the payments would be passed on to the tenants of the apartment complex as rent rebates.
Settlement Discussions
The plaintiff made a C.C.P. Section 998 demand of $20 million, reduced it to $8.3 million before trial. The defendant offered $500,000.
Deliberation
8.5 hours
Poll
9-3 (complaint), 9-3 (cross-complaint)
Length
17 days
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