EQUITY INCOME PARTNERS, LP V. CHICAGO TITLE INSURANCE COMP., No. 14-15388 (9th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CaseThis opinion or order relates to an opinion or order originally issued on July 12, 2016.
Download PDF
FILED NOT FOR PUBLICATION MAR 3 2017 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT EQUITY INCOME PARTNERS, LP, an Arizona Limited Partnership; GALILEO CAPITAL PARTNERS LIMITED, a Cayman Islands Exempted Company, Plaintiffs-Appellants, No. U.S. COURT OF APPEALS 14-15388 D.C. No. 2:11-cv-01614-SMM MEMORANDUM * v. CHICAGO TITLE INSURANCE COMPANY, a Delaware Corporation, Defendant-Appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Arizona Stephen M. McNamee, District Judge, Presiding Argued March 18, 2016 Submitted March 3, 2017 San Francisco, California Before: KLEINFELD, RAWLINSON, and HURWITZ, Circuit Judges. On July 12, 2016, we certified the following questions of law to the Arizona Supreme Court pursuant to Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 12-1862: 1. * When a lender purchases property by full-credit bid at a trustee’s sale, does Section 9 [of the standard form lender’s title insurance This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3. policies] apply, or does Section 2 apply? 2. Is a full-credit bid at a trustee’s sale a “payment” or “payment[] made” under Sections 2 or 9 of the policies? 3. To what extent does a full-credit bid at a trustee’s sale either (a) terminate coverage under Section 2(a)(i) of the policies, or (b) reduce coverage under Section 2 and any possible liability under Section 7? Equity Income Partners, LP v. Chi. Title Ins. Co., 828 F.3d 1040, 1045 (9th Cir. 2016). On February 7, 2017, the Arizona Supreme Court answered the certified questions as follows: 1. Section 2 applies when a lender purchases property by full-credit bid at a trustee’s sale. 2. A full-credit bid at a trustee’s sale is not a “payment” under Sections 2 or 9 of the policy. 3. The full-credit bid neither terminates nor reduces coverage under Section 2 or Section 7.1 Equity Income Partners, LP v. Chi. Title Ins. Co., No. CV-16-0162-CQ, --- P.3d ----, 1 The footnote in the Arizona Supreme Court opinion stated: As explained below, the trustee sale may reduce or even eliminate a title insurer’s ultimate liability under its policy. However, this reduction or elimination is not a function of the credit bid amount. Rather, the amount of the reduction, if any, is the fair market value of the property the lender receives as a result of its credit bid or, if the property is acquired by a third party, the amount that party pays for the property. 2 2017 WL 490398, at *1 (Ariz. 2017). In light of the Arizona Supreme Court’s answers to the certified questions, we vacate the district court’s summary judgment and remand for further proceedings consistent with those answers. Costs are awarded to appellants. Fed. R. App. P. 39(a). VACATED and REMANDED. 3
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
