Magna Enterprises, Inc. v. Fidelity National Title Insurance

Magna Enterprises, Inc. (Magna) appeals the judgment against it in its action against Fidelity National Title Insurance Company (Fidelity) for breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and declaratory relief, contending the trial court erroneously found Magna had not suffered a lack of right of access to and from its land under its title insurance policy with Fidelity. We affirm.

Magna owned four adjacent parcels of commercial property in the City of Montebello (the City). An auto repair center existed on one parcel, while a shopping center sat on the other three parcels. Although the parcels abutted one another, one could not practicably access the repair center from a public street by traveling across the shopping center parcels because those parcels were two and one-half feet higher than the repair center parcel and a fence and one of the shopping center buildings abutted the repair center parcel.

Magna believed the City would not allow access to the repair center from the shopping center. As part of a redevelopment plan for the shopping center, Magna understood the City would require a five-foot-high block wall between the…