Judge sides with insurers in Grandview condos lawsuit
The appeals judge sided with the
Unless overturned on appeal, the decision ends any hope unit owners had of recouping their investments and throws into limbo the property's multimillion-dollar cleanup, which stalled as Grandview pursued the insurance money.
In August, Grandview's
"The appellate judge's decision reinforced behavior of insurance companies who sell policies ... and don't pay for the loss when it happens," said
An estimated 65 fire companies and more than 200 firefighters took part in extinguishing the fire, which started in the afternoon and spread rapidly as it destroyed nine buildings at the 396-unit complex, which was a summer getaway for some owners and a year-round residence for others.
The fire came one month after Grandview's managers agreed to correct fire-safety and building-code violations, including non-working sprinklers and alarms. The agreement ended a standoff in which
Less than four months after the fire, the
They accused the board of making false statements on their application for coverage, mainly by attesting that the complex had no existing code violations and that each building was fully protected by automatic sprinkler systems.
The insurers were told one building did not have sprinklers, Johnson said.
"They issued policies anyway," she said.
An appraiser valued the 99-acre property at
"We would obviously love to see it be redeveloped," he said.
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