Samuel Bruchey Secures $1.55 Million for Temecula Couple After Title Insurer Denies Claim, Forces Home into Foreclosure

SBE’s Samuel Bruchey secured a $1.55 million verdict for a couple who thought that they had purchased their dream property, but soon realized that their home was built on a land that had no legal access to their property, preventing them from connecting the parcel to a road or utilities. In 2012, Keith and Patricia Jones purchased a parcel in the Temecula area, where they began building their home. When the couple realized that their home had no electricity or water, and no legal access to the property, they filed a claim with their insurance company, asking them to fix the lack of legal access or pay them the $300,000 under policy benefit. Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Company denied the claim, and after three years and three separate trials, a jury found the insurance’s denial was in bad faith. The Joneses were awarded $600,000 in emotional distress damages, $400,000 in lost wages and other consequential damages.