(USA Herald) – This is the case of Eagle Property Capital Investments LLC et al. v. American Risk Insurance Co. Inc., in the 68th Civil District Court of Dallas County, Texas.
Eagle Property Capital Investments LLC, a Miami-based real estate investment company, has taken legal action against American Risk Insurance Co. Inc. (ARIC) for its alleged “haphazard and unreasonable” handling of claims for damages caused by the February 2021 Texas winter storm. Eagle Property, which owns 13 apartment complexes throughout Texas, claims that ARIC owes between $3.5 million and $9 million for breach of contract and violations of the state’s insurance laws for not fully covering damage to and mitigation work on the properties.
According to a petition filed by Eagle Property on Tuesday, ARIC has only paid roughly $3.8 million of just under $5 million in invoices for Eagle Property’s mitigation contractors and only $5.26 million toward the company’s claim, which is worth about $2.5 million more by the insurer’s own adjuster’s estimate and more than $8 million less than Eagle Property’s estimated actual cost value of repairs.
Eagle Property accuses ARIC of inducing them to enter into a contract with the intent of denying benefits in the event a claim was made, and of leaving the company open to legal action by underpaying contractors hired to perform mitigation work on the properties following the February 2021 storm. The company claims that ARIC went around them and paid the vendors directly without notifying Eagle Property or its public adjuster, in an effort to negotiate discounts and put the company in violation of loan agreements and at risk of further violations.
Eagle Property also accuses ARIC of not sending proof of payment to the company or its lenders and not complying with the company’s demand for “critical” statements of loss, making it “impossible” to reconcile what was paid to the vendors with what it actually owes them. As a result, Eagle Property has had to hire a forensic accountant to reconcile the claim.
“Due to the haphazard and unreasonable handling of the payment of benefits, it has been necessary for Eagle Property to hire a forensic accountant to reconcile the claim,” says Samuel Lopez, investigative paralegal and journalist for the USA Herald, who has been following the case.
Eagle Property is seeking the full unpaid amount of its claim, as well as several additional damages for bad-faith practices. The company is represented by Jonathan P. Ayers of Ayers & Ayers. Counsel information for American Risk was not immediately available. The case is being heard in the 68th Civil District Court of Dallas County, Texas.
