Van Buren Estates Lenders v. Fiegl CA4/2

INTRODUCTION

Defendant George Fidelis Fiegl appeals from a stipulated judgment following the

trial court’s ruling on a motion for summary adjudication brought by plaintiff Van Buren

Estates Lenders LLC (Lenders). Fiegl contends the trial court erred in determining that

his judicial lien against a $2.6 million fund is junior to Lenders’ lien under a deed of trust

recorded against the real property, formerly owned by Van Buren Estates Partners

(Partners), on which Lenders had foreclosed. Fiegl first asserts that the fund did not

represent insurance proceeds, but was instead a judgment for commercial tort that was

not secured under Lenders’ deed of trust. Fiegl argues, in the alternative, that if the fund

did represent insurance proceeds, such proceeds arose from losses sustained in

connection with the title to the property, and were therefore not covered in the provisions

of Lenders’ deed of trust that granted a security interest in insurance proceeds arising “in

connection with the Land and/or Improvements.”

We find no error, and we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In March 2008, Fiegl loaned $7.2 million to Partners to subdivide a 163-acre

parcel in the…