Rejecting Nationwide Insurance’s arguments brought by a midsized regional firm that an ordinary person would understand that a “post third sale offering” of a tax-delinquent home is considered a “public auction,” the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed a lower court’s order siding with the insurer.
In a July 16 opinion, authored by Judge Duane Benton, the three-judge panel reversed a U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri decision granting summary judgment to Nationwide Insurance, represented by attorneys with Watters Wolf Bub Hansmann based in Missouri. A dispute arose between the insurance company and a homeowner, Kalvin Earl Richardson, who it claimed misrepresented in his application that his home was not purchased at a public auction.
