Lords Landing Village Condominium Council of Unit Owners v. Continental Insurance Company (520 U.S. 893)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 2, 1997 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 520 U.S. 893 · 117 S. Ct. 1731
- Decided
- June 2, 1997
- Term
- October Term 1996
- Vote
- 7–2
- Issue area
- Judicial Power
- Disposition
- Vacated and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Per Curiam. In this diversity ease, the holding of the federal appellate court below has been called into question by a recent decision of the highest state court in Maryland. We must decide whether it is appropriate, in these circumstances, for this Court to grant the petition for certiorari, vacate the judgment of the lower court, and remand the case (GVR) for further consideration. Petitioner, an association of condominium owners, sued respondent in Maryland state court, seeking to compel respondent to pay a $1.1 million judgment it had obtained against respondent’s insured, the developer of its condominium complex. In a previous action, a jury had held the developer liable for numerous defects in the complex, finding that the developer had made misrepresentations and breached various warranty obligations. Respondent had issued a general liability insurance policy covering the developer. The policy provided that respondent would pay “ 'those sums that [the developer] becomes legally obligated to pay as damages because of . . . “property damage” to which this insurance applies.”’ App. to Pet. for Cert. 2a. Under the policy, “property damage” was covered only if it was caused by an “accident.” Respondent removed the action to the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, based on the parties’ diversity of citizenship. The District Court granted summary…
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