Insurance Co. of North America v. Seaboard Homes, Inc.
| Decision Date | 20 July 1965 |
| Citation | 51 Misc.2d 486,273 N.Y.S.2d 470 |
| Parties | INSURANCE COMPANY OF NORTH AMERICA, Home Insurance Company and Reliance Insurance Company, Plaintiffs, v. SEABOARD HOMES, INC., Merian Central Corporation and R.F.M. Associates, Inc., Defendants. MERIAN CENTRAL CORPORATION, Plaintiff, v. HOME INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendant. |
| Court | New York Supreme Court |
Close, Griffiths, McCarthy & Gaynor, White Plains, for plaintiffs.
Seymour R. Levine, Peekskill, for defendant, Seaboard Homes, Inc.
Margolies & Geldzahler, New York City, Gabriel Levy, Yonkers, of counsel, for defendant, Merian Central Corp.
Maxwell S. Pfeifer, New York City, for defendant, RFM Associates, Inc.
In the first of these two consolidated actions the plaintiffs, insurance companies, seek a judgment declaring which of the defendants herein, if any, had an insurable interest in a prefabricated house which was damaged by fire on May 2, 1963. All parties have stipulated that the amount of the loss is $7,000. The plaintiff in the second action, Merian Central Corporation (hereinafter called 'Merian'), seeks a judgment against defendant Home Insurance Company in the amount of $7,000, the stipulated loss.
The house was constructed by defendant Seaboard Homes, Inc. (hereinafter called 'Seaboard') on property owned by New Amsterdam Construction Co., Inc. (hereinafter called 'New Amsterdam') pursuant to a lease between the parties made in 1960. The lease was modified by a subsequent instrument which provided in part that unless the house was removed by Seaboard by the last day of March, 1963, all right, title and interest in the house would vest in New Amsterdam. On June 14, 1960 plaintiff Reliance Insurance Company issued to Seaboard a policy of insurance insuring Seaboard against loss due to fire on the house. The policy was in effect on May 2, 1963 when the fire occurred. However, since Seaboard had not removed the house from New Amsterdam's property by March 31, 1963 all of Seaboard's interest in said house became vested in New Amsterdam on that date. Accordingly, Seaboard had no insurable interest in the house on May 2, 1963.
In October, 1962 New Amsterdam entered into a contract with Merian under which Merian agreed to perform certain excavating and grading on the premises of New Amsterdam. Under this contract, in the event that Seaboard abandons the house and it becomes the property of New Amsterdam and in the event Merian exercises its right to excavate and grade the parcel formerly leased to Seaboard, Merian would succeed to whatever rights New Amsterdam might have to said structure. The contract allowed Merian 18 months, or until April, 1964, to complete its work. Thus, on April 1, 1963 when New Amsterdam became vested in all right, title and interest in the house by virtue of Seaboard's failure to remove the...
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