Spirit of Life Church v. Travelers Lloyds Insurance Company et al

Filing 30

ORDER entered DENYING 28 MOTION to Enforce Settlement. A Status Conference is set for 12/15/2011 at 08:30 AM in Courtroom 11B before Judge Lee H Rosenthal.(Signed by Judge Lee H Rosenthal) Parties notified.(leddins, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
HOUSTON DIVISION
SPIRIT OF LIFE CHURCH,
Plaintiff,
v.
TRAVELERS LLOYDS INSURANCE
COMPANY, et al.,
Defendants.

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CIVIL ACTION NO. H-10-3736

ORDER
The defendant, Travelers Lloyds Insurance Company, has moved to enforce a settlement
agreement that resulted from a mediation. The plaintiff, the Spirit of Life Church, opposes the
motion. The issue in this lawsuit over insurance coverage and claim processing for damage from
Hurricane Ike arises from the fact that the insurance policy provides that the mortgageholder has the
right to receive loss payment. After the mediation, the parties were unable to agree on how much
of the total settlement amount would be allocated to the mortgagee and how much would be
allocated to the plaintiff and counsel.
The defendant asserts that the parties’ agreement on the total amount of the settlement should
be enforced. This resolution would leave it to the plaintiff to work out with the mortgageholder the
amount it would receive. The problem with the defendant’s argument is that the mediation
agreement attached as exhibit A to the motion to enforce states that “[t]he interest of the mortgage
company, if any, will need to be agreed upon by the parties.” Because the parties cannot agree, there
does not appear to be an enforceable settlement. The motion to enforce therefore must be denied.

The parties and counsel are ordered to appear at a status conference and hearing on
December 15, 2011, at 8:30 a.m. to set a schedule for resolving this case.
SIGNED on November 28, 2011, at Houston, Texas.

______________________________________
Lee H. Rosenthal
United States District Judge

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