[WSBARP] litigation guarantee coverage question

[Eric Nelsen]

Thanks Greg! That's my thought also, but what about the language in the policy that says it's intended to cover litigation relating to the described land, but the described land is actually the neighbor's property, which isn't at issue? Because the encroachment is onto my client's property.

Or am I reading too much into that restriction, and the policy will still cover because the neighbor's property benefits from the improvements that encroach onto my client's property?

Sincerely,

Eric

Eric C. Nelsen
Sayre Law Offices, PLLC
1417 31st Ave South
Seattle WA 98144-3909
206-625-0092
eric at sayrelawoffices.com<mailto:eric at sayrelawoffices.com>

From: wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com <wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com> On Behalf Of Gregory L. Ursich
Sent: Tuesday, August 22, 2023 12:12 PM
To: WSBA Real Property Listserv <wsbarp at lists.wsbarppt.com>
Subject: Re: [WSBARP] litigation guarantee coverage question

Eric: Order the litigation guarantee on the neighboring property, to verify ownership to name the correct trespasser.  But, do not name any lienholders like banks. -Greg

[Logo, company name  Description automatically generated]
Gregory L. Ursich | Shareholder
Skyline Tower, Suite 1500 | 10900 NE 4th Street | Bellevue, WA 98004
P: 425.450.4258 | F: 425.635.7720
vCard<mailto:http://www.insleebest.com/uploads/vcards/gursich.vcf> | website<mailto:www.insleebest.com> | gursich at insleebest.com<mailto:gursich at insleebest.com>


This electronic mail transmission is privileged and confidential and is intended only for the review of the party to whom it is addressed.  If you have received this transmission in error, please immediately return it to the sender.  Unintended transmission shall not constitute waiver of the attorney-client or any other privilege.

From: wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com<mailto:wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com> <wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com<mailto:wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com>> On Behalf Of Eric Nelsen
Sent: Tuesday, August 22, 2023 11:54 AM
To: WSBA Real Property Listserv <wsbarp at lists.wsbarppt.com<mailto:wsbarp at lists.wsbarppt.com>>
Subject: [WSBARP] litigation guarantee coverage question

I have generally used litigation guarantees as a method of determining the proper defendants when I'm pursuing an adverse possession claim. That is, my client has encroached on a neighboring parcel, so I need to confirm who has interests in that property.

Now, though, I'm doing a trespass and ejectment claim against an encroaching party, who owns the neighboring property. My client is being encroached upon, but defendant hasn't encroached long enough to establish adverse possession.

My dilemma:

If I order a litigation guarantee on my client's property which is encroached upon, then the guarantee will simply confirm that my client is the vested owner. That doesn't help me confirm the identity of the proper defendant.

If I instead order a litigation guarantee on the neighboring property, it will confirm the identity of the encroaching party, BUT it appears to me that the litigation guarantee won't actually provide any insurance coverage for my client. Part of the guarantee states:

"This Guarantee is restricted to the use of the Assured solely for the purpose of providing information to facilitate the commencement of the suit at law...affecting the land described in Schedule A." But the land described in Schedule A is the neighboring parcel, not my client's parcel which is being encroached upon.

Am I doing this wrong? Is there another type of litigation guarantee that covers when the insured is being encroached upon and is seeking to identify the defendant(s) who own(s) the neighboring parcel?

Sincerely,

Eric

Eric C. Nelsen
Sayre Law Offices, PLLC
1417 31st Ave South
Seattle WA 98144-3909
206-625-0092
eric at sayrelawoffices.com<mailto:eric at sayrelawoffices.com>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbarp/attachments/20230822/c083579c/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 62307 bytes
Desc: image001.png
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbarp/attachments/20230822/c083579c/image001.png>