Allstate Insurance v. Miller

AMENDED ORDER RE: MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

This action is brought by plaintiff, Allstate Insurance Company (“Allstate”), for a declaratory judgment that defendant Joy Miller’s homeowners insurance policy does not require Allstate to defend or indemnify her in a previously filed lawsuit. The underlying state court litigation concerns misrepresentations allegedly made in the formation of a real estate contract in which Joy Miller sold her condominium residence to Mildred Merlino. Allstate now seeks summary judgment on its claim for declaratory relief.

BACKGROUND

The complaint filed in state court by Mildred Merlino (the “Merlino Complaint”) asserts claims against Miller for:

The central contentions of the Merlino Complaint are that in February, 1987, Miller contracted with Merlino to sell Miller’s condominium. In the contract, Miller represented that she was unaware of any pending lawsuits affecting the property, and that she was unaware of any significant defects in the property. Merlino alleges that, subsequent to her purchase of the condominium, she discovered that Miller's representations were false — that prior to the execution of the real estate contract the condominium…