Lamar Homes, Inc. v. Mid-Continent Casualty Co.

Selling damaged property is not the same as damaging property. Among other differences, only the latter begets a claim for property damage. When the homebuyers here sued their builder for construction defects, they did not claim the builder damaged their property; instead, they alleged broken promises and breached duties connected with the sale. Those were not property damage claims, and thus were not covered by the builder’s CGL policy.

The Court’s conclusion to the contrary turns the construction industry on its head. Instead of builders standing behind their subcontractors’ work and making…