J. B. Kramer Grocery Company, Inc. v. Glens Falls Insurance Company

GIBSON, Circuit Judge.

The burning dispute here is who should bear the loss from a fire set by the financially pressed owner of the contents of a grocery store — the security holder or the insurance companies? Plaintiff Kramer, 1 a prior owner, was holder of a security interest in the contents (stock and fixtures) of the store to secure repayment of an indebtedness owed it by the new owner, Teddy Watson. Defendant insurance companies had issued standard fire policies totaling $125,000 covering the:

[C]ontents of the one store, approved roof, concrete block building, occupied as a grocery store…