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Plaintiff CSAA Fire & Casualty Insurance Company (CSAA) sued Roman Ramirez and eventually filed a successful motion for summary judgment on the issue of coverage. IN CSAA Fire & Casualty Insurance Company v. Roman Ramirez, No. 2:22-cv-00318-RFB-EJY, United States District Court, D. Nevada (March 10, 2023) USDC resolved the coverage issue.
Where the record, taken as a whole, could not lead a rational trier of fact to find the nonmoving party, there is no genuine issue for trial. If a party fails to properly support an allegation of fact or fails to properly address another party’s allegation of fact, the court may:
- provide an opportunity to properly support or address this fact;
- regard that fact as undisputed for the purposes of the motion;
- grant summary judgment if the motion and the record—including the facts considered undisputed—show that the movant is entitled to it; or
- issue any other appropriate order.
ACTUAL BACKGROUND
The court accepted the following facts as undisputed, based on the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment and the record.
- Plaintiff is an insurance company that carries a homeowner’s insurance policy (the “Policy”) held by the named insured, Maria M. Armendarez.
- The policy became effective on May 4, 2017 and covers the property located at 2421 Old Forge Lane, Unit 104, Las Vegas, Nevada 89121 (“Unit 104”).
- While the insured property was unit 104, the insurance agreement lists Maria Armendarez’s residence at a different location, namely 219 La Paz Avenue, Henderson, Nevada 89015.
An incident occurred on May 4, 2017 (the “Incident”) involving the Defendant which resulted in an underlying state court case being brought against him by Mr. Juan Severin. At the time of the incident, unit 104 was rented by Maria Armendarez to an unrelated family of three individuals: Loraine Gonzalez, Tony Gonzalez and their child Luke Gonzalez. At the time of the incident, certain repairs and remodeling were underway at Unit 104. In connection with these repairs and remodeling. Maria M. Armendarez’s daughter, Carrie Armendarez, hired a handyman, the plaintiff in the underlying action, Mr. Juan Severin, to do some of the work on unit 104.
An argument between Carrie Armendarez and Mr. Servin arose regarding whether Mr. Servin should perform any additional work and/or receive additional payment. As the argument ensued, Ramirez allegedly punched Mr. Severin in the face, causing him injury. As a result of the incident, Mr. Servin sued in the underlying state lawsuit, seeking damages and punitive damages against Mr. Ramirez (and others).
Defendant then filed its defense of the Incident and subsequent underlying action to Plaintiff.
On May 10, 2022, the plaintiff took the defendant’s deposition. In the deposition, plaintiff asked defendant if he had any blood, marital or domestic relationship with Maria M. Armendarez and/or if he had ever lived as a resident in Maria M. Armendarez’s household. Defendant unequivocally affirmed that he was neither a relative (blood or marriage) of Maria M. Armendarez, that he never lived with Maria M. Armendarez, nor was he a resident of her household. Defendant further confirmed that he has never lived at 219 La Paz Avenue, Henderson, Nevada, which is the household of Maria M. Armendarez, nor at Unit 104, where the subject incident occurred. The defendant further confirmed that he has never been married in his entire life, lived only with his girlfriend, Loretta Vargas and not Maria M. Armendarez, and is not a blood relative of Maria M. Armendarez or her late husband, Mr. Fernando Armendarez.
DISCUSSION
In Nevada, when the facts are not in dispute, interpretation of insurance contracts is a question of law that can be decided by the reviewing court. An insurance policy, like any other agreement, must be interpreted and enforced as written, without any ambiguity. In this case, the four requirements for declaratory relief were met. There is an underlying proceeding between Mr. Severin and the defendant, currently before the Clark County District Court.
Defendant cannot establish that he is covered by the policy because the policy is not ambiguous as to the definition of “insured” and the extent of coverage for “insured” persons. Defendant admitted that at the time of the incident he resided at 3909 San Andreas Avenue, Las Vegas, NV 89121. He stated that he moved from this residence to a home he purchased located at 4388 Gibraltar Way, Las Vegas, NV, 89121, 2020 and was not a resident of Unit 104 nor was a resident of the Maria M. Armendarez residence.
By his sworn testimony, the defendant has confirmed that he does not qualify as an “insured” under the policy.
Insurance policies must be interpreted as written. When a policy defines “insured” as a person who is named or who resides on the premises and is a relative of the named insured, no one else is covered by the policy for defense or indemnification. Because Ramirez did not fit any variation of the definition of “insured,” he was not entitled to defense or indemnification coverage.
(c) 2023 Barry Zalma & ClaimSchool, Inc.
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Barry Zalma, Esq., CFE, now limits his practice to serving as an insurance consultant specializing in insurance coverage, insurance claims management, insurance bad faith and insurance fraud almost equally for insurers and policyholders. He practiced law in California for more than 44 years as an insurance coverage and claims attorney and more than 54 years in the insurance industry. He can be reached at http://www.zalma.com and zalma@zalma.com
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