In October 2018, La Ventana and Snuffer’s failed to make timely rent payments and vacated the premises. These acts constituted a default under the terms of the leases. In lieu of filing suit against the defendants, the landlord negotiated and ultimately entered into forbearance agreements with them. Under both forbearance agreements, both Snuffer’s and La Ventana acknowledged they were in default under their leases. The landlord agreed to accept payments of 85% of the base monthly rent, in addition to the tenant’s continued payment of triple net expenses under each lease.
The landlord also agreed to forgo filing suit against the tenants; but, he still retained legal counsel and did not waive his rights with respect to the past or future defaults under the leases. While the tenants made rent payments pursuant to the forbearance agreements beginning in November 2018, they did not make the payments in February 2020 and have not made any payments since.
Our client owns six fast food restaurants in Harris, Galveston, Brazoria, and Calhoun Counties. Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas on August 25, 2017 and over the next week caused devastation all along the coast. The plaintiff’s properties suffered catastrophic damage as a result of Hurricane Harvey. Sizable portions of the roofs were compromised by the storm’s high winds, which in turn resulted in damage to the interiors of the properties.
However, as devastating as the damage to the properties was, the plaintiff felt fortunate to be protected by millions of dollars in insurance coverage. Unfortunately, this sense of security borne of a pricey contractual relationship would prove illusory.
On September 9, 2017, a catastrophic fire broke out at the restaurant and caused significant damage to the business equipment, which in turn resulted in an extensive loss in income. Soon after the fire, the plaintiff filed an insurance claim and asked that the cost of repairs be covered pursuant to the policy. Texas General and one of its agents sold the policy to the plaintiff. However, Texas General and its agent falsely represented to the plaintiff that damages caused by fire, among other things, would be, and indeed are covered by the insurance policy based on the known facts about the business, including the lack of an internal fire alarm system.
The plaintiff trusted and relied upon the experience of Texas General and its agent to procure the appropriate coverage for its specialized business needs, and Texas General acted as the agent of Blackboard in connection with the procurement of coverage. Texas General and its agent led the plaintiff to believe the insurance policy secured would cover their business personal property and business income in the event of standard perils, including a fire loss. Blackboard conducted an unreasonable and inadequate investigation of the damages to the restaurant and looked to find policy exclusions in order to deny the claim. Blackboard wrongfully denied and delayed the plaintiff’s claim for damages to contents and lost business income. Blackboard has chosen to continue to deny and delay timely payment of the damages. Because of Blackboard’s refusal to the pay the claim, the plaintiff has suffered significant economic loss.
Read more about this restaurant bad faith insurance lawsuit.
On or about August 25, 2017, the 4,300 square foot restaurant was struck by Hurricane Harvey’s extreme winds and suffered damage to sizeable portions of the roof and exterior. The restaurant’s claim for roof and exterior wind damages, along with substantial interior damage, was wrongly denied by AmGuard. Immediately after the storm, the plaintiff promptly filed a claim, alerting AmGuard to the extensive damages and asking it to cover the cost of repairs pursuant to the policy.
AmGuard assigned several adjusters, including defendant Brandon Allen, Jim Richardson, David Nance, and Lisa Fennell, to the claim. None of these adjusters provided a scope of damages or an estimate to the Insured. AmGuard subsequently engaged Rimkus Consulting Group, Inc. to handle the claim, but they were improperly trained as to their responsibilities and were directed to minimize – and in fact, did minimize – claim payments and delay the reconstruction project. Duncan Doss from Rimkus completed a site inspection, and both he and the other adjusters assigned to the claim were unqualified and incapable of adequately assessing the damages to this type of commercial property. Additionally, they were the source of many delays throughout the claim process. AmGuard continued to delay the claim resolution and did not provide the insured with answers. After cursory and substandard inspections, and more than five months after the Property was damaged, AmGuard fully denied the claim on November 22, 2017. To date, no payments have been made for damages from Hurricane Harvey.
On or about January 26, 2018, the property suffered severe water intrusion, causing substantial damage to the restaurant’s interiors. Plaintiffs promptly filed a claim with its insurance carrier, Westchester, which was adjusted by their representative in Texas, Mr. Liles. Westchester assigned the plaintiff’s claim to Mr. Liles to adjust the damages under the policy. Mr. Liles confirmed the damages were covered under the policy and “approved” payment of $150,000. Additionally and on behalf of Westchester, Liles confirmed both over the phone and email on June 10 and June 11, 2019 that $74,766.84 in additional money would be issued. Despite this representation, Westchester has refused to fully pay this amount of undisputed damages.
Westchester and Liles failed to provide any scope of damages, failed to complete an adequate investigation of our client’s claim, and refused to retain the appropriate consultants to evaluate the claim. The Carrier, McLarens, and Mr. Liles wrongfully underpaid and denied Plaintiff’s claim for property repairs. Defendants ultimately represented to the Plaintiff that certain damages were not covered under the Policy when in fact they were, thus necessitating a water intrusion lawsuit.
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