Devonwood Condominium Owners Ass'n v. Farmers Insurance Exchange

Appellant Farmers Insurance Exchange Association (Farmers), asks that we reverse or vacate the lower court’s judgment for $129,939.87 in favor of respondent Devonwood Condominium Owners Association (Devonwood). We find the judgment violates Code of Civil Procedure section 1287.4 because it does not conform to the appraisal award upon which it is based. Accordingly, we vacate the judgment, and remand with instructions to the lower court to enter a new judgment that conforms to the appraisal award.

BACKGROUND

This dispute centers around Farmers’s obligations under a written property insurance policy it issued to Devonwood, a California homeowners association. When a fire occurred in one of Devonwood’s units, a Hercules, California condominium in 2004, Devonwood submitted a claim for fire damage to Farmers. When the parties could not agree on the value of the loss, Devonwood demanded that an appraisal be conducted by a panel pursuant to the policy’s appraisal provision. The provision called for each party to select a competent and impartial appraiser, who together would select an umpire, and stated that “[a] decision agreed to by any two will be binding.” Devonwood…