Noroski v. Century Nat. Ins. Co.
A series of unfortunate events led up to the controversy now before us. In November 2008, wildfires wreaked havoc in southern California; the path of destruction included 27995 Alpine Lane, Yorba Linda, California (the Property). An owner of the Property, Ulrike Schneider, died of cancer shortly thereafter in July 2009. Schneider died intestate, unmarried, and without children. In the aftermath of her death, acrimony arose between Schneider’s long-term, live-in boyfriend (plaintiff Daniel A. Noroski) and Schneider’s family in Germany. A multiplicity of legal actions ensued.
This case began with the March 2011 filing of a complaint by Noroski against four defendants: the insurer of the Property, Century-National Insurance Company, and its parent company, Kramer-Wilson Company, Inc. (collectively, Century-National); Bank of America, N.A. (Bank of America), the beneficiary of a deed of trust recorded against the Property; and ReconTrust Company, N.A. (ReconTrust), the trustee named in the deed of trust. Basically, Noroski was dissatisfied with the resolution of the claim that was filed with Century-National following the destruction of the Property.
In August 2012, Jim Travis Tice (as administrator of the Schneider estate) sought leave to file a complaint in intervention against Noroski and the four defendants. Tice reiterated many of Noroski’s claims against the four defendants, but with the added wrinkle that Schneider’s estate (and not Noroski) was the true owner of the Property and the right to any insurance proceeds (both those already paid and those still owing). The court denied the motion. We reverse. The court wrongly addressed the merits of some of the claims made in Tice’s proposed complaint in intervention rather than addressing his application to intervene pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 387.[1]
Comments on Noroski v. Century Nat. Ins. Co.