Sanford Sachtleben and Luciann Hruza Missouri Cases

Sanford Sachtleben and Luciann Hruza (Buyers) purchased land with a barn, which was later found to violate city zoning ordinances. Buyers sued Alliant National Title Insurance Co. (Alliant) for breach of a title insurance policy after Alliant refused to defend them in a lawsuit brought by the City of New Melle. The circuit court granted partial summary judgment for Alliant, concluding the policy provided no coverage. The Missouri Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the policy unambiguously required a recorded notice in the public records for coverage under Covered Risk 5, and that Exclusion 1(a) precluded coverage under Covered Risks 2 and 3 for ordinance violations.

Sanford Sachtleben and Luciann Hruza purchased property with a barn that violated zoning ordinances, and a lawsuit was pending against the sellers. They bought a title insurance policy from Alliant National Title Insurance Co., which refused to defend them in the lawsuit, claiming lack of proper notice. The trial court granted summary judgment for Alliant National, but the appellate court reversed, holding that Alliant National's actual notice of the lawsuit, through its agent, was sufficient to trigger its coverage obligations under the policy.