CHAPTER 1 Introduction

• Jurisdiction: United States
• Publication year: 2019

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

This book focuses on legal issues concerning insurance recovery and bad faith for real estate and real estate-related entities. The following entities are, among others, the target audience because they have an interest in understanding the insurance needed in their businesses:

1. those who own, operate, and use real property;

2. landlords and tenants;

3. real estate developers, builders, construction contractors and subcontractors;

4. real estate lenders;

5. real estate investment trusts;

6. professionals involved in real estate, such as brokers, realtors, agents, engineers, architects, and appraisers; and

7. Bankruptcy professionals handling bankrupt estates of these businesses.

If a lawyer represents clients, or if someone is himself or herself employed by or otherwise involved, in any of these lines of businesses, it behooves that person to understand the insurance coverages discussed in this treatise. Likewise, if a plaintiff’s attorney may envision suing one of the enumerated businesses, it would behoove the lawyer to understand the insurance funds that may be available to fund settlements and judgments being sought on behalf of the tort plaintiff.

Why would this book be that important? Those involved in these and other businesses face innumerable liabilities, costs, and losses that impact balance sheets, income statements, and cash-flow reports. These liabilities and losses cost money to resolve or repair. Insurance is one of the few ways to use someone else’s money to pay for losses or damages, which has a positive impact on the business’s financial performance. Understanding situations where insurance can be used to reimburse a business is therefore an element essential to success. The same is true for plaintiffs’ attorneys because insurance often is the only source of funding to reimburse the plaintiffs for their losses.

This work has been divided into three principal parts. The first, comprised of Chapters 2 and 3, sets forth the fundamentals related to insurance. Chapter 2 discusses the key “terms of art” and the types and kinds of insurance available to real estate and related businesses. Chapter 3 deals with insurance contract interpretation and construction, including regulatory approval and lost-policy issues. An insurance policy is nothing more than a contract, albeit technical and specialized, and its interpretation...