Parkview Villas Ass'n v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co.

Parkview Villas Association, Inc. (Parkview Villas) appeals from the judgment entered after the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of State Farm Fire and Casualty Company (State Farm) in Parkview Villas’s action concerning the adjustment of its property damage losses from the 1994 Northridge earthquake. In granting the motion the trial court found State Farm had met its initial burden of showing that one or more elements of Parkview Villas’s claims for breach of contract and tortious breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing (insurance bad faith) could not be established and Parkview Villas had “offered no rebuttal, in that it failed to present any admissible evidence of the elements necessary for a prima facie showing” of breach of contract or breach of the implied covenant of good faith. The trial court subsequently explained, “[T]he lack of admissible evidence in opposition to the motion stems from [Parkview Villas’] inadequate statement of undisputed material facts.”

We reverse. Although Parkview Villas’s failure to file an adequate separate statement is certainly unacceptable, that procedural error did not deprive either State Farm or…