SLOVITER, Circuit Judge.
This interlocutory appeal requires interpretation of a title insurance policy that contains a widely-used endorsement known as the American Land Title Association 9 Endorsement ("the ALTA 9 Endorsement"). Specifically, this court must decide whether the scope of coverage under ¶ 1(b)(2) of the ALTA 9 Endorsement encompasses losses resulting from entire instruments, or whether the coverage is limited to losses caused by the particular types of encumbrances listed in that paragraph.
Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Co. ("Commonwealth") issued the title insurance policy at issue in this case to Nationwide Life Insurance Co. ("Nationwide") in connection with real property in the Franklin Mills Mall in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania ("the Property"). The Franklin Mills Mall is a large shopping center specializing in retail stores. The Property was owned by Liberty Mills Limited Partnership ("Liberty Mills") when Liberty Mills entered into a Master Declaration and Agreement of Easements, Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (the "Master Declaration") with Liberty Mills Residual Limited Partnership in 1988, which governs all stores in the Mall. Later that year, PMI Associates ("PMI") purchased the Property from Liberty Mills, at which time PMI and Liberty Mills also entered into a Declaration of Restrictions. The Declaration of Restrictions vested Liberty Mills with, inter alia, the right to prior approval of future purchasers of the Property and an express option to purchase.
PMI borrowed $3.5 million from Nationwide in 2001, using the Property as collateral. Nationwide purchased a title insurance policy ("the Policy") from Commonwealth to insure its lender's interest in the Property. The Policy contains a specific endorsement that is known as the ALTA 9 Endorsement, which states (in relevant part):
PMI defaulted on its loan from Nationwide in 2003 and conveyed the Property to Nationwide by fee simple deed in lieu of foreclosure. Nationwide attempted to sell the Property to Ironwood, Real Estate, LLC ("Ironwood"), but Liberty Mills' successor in interest — Franklin Mills Limited Partnership ("Franklin Mills") — refused to approve Ironwood as a buyer in accordance with the rights conferred by the Declaration of Restrictions.
Nationwide submitted a claim for coverage to Commonwealth, asserting that the restrictions relied upon by Franklin Mills to justify its refusal of Ironwood as a purchaser rendered the Property unusable and unsalable. Commonwealth denied Nationwide's claim.
Nationwide filed a complaint in the District Court, and Commonwealth filed a motion to dismiss, asserting that Nationwide was seeking coverage for harm alleged to arise from the Declaration of Restrictions, which was listed in Schedule B and was thus expressly excepted from coverage under the Policy. The District Court granted Commonwealth's motion, and Nationwide appealed.
After oral argument, this court reversed and remanded, holding that "Commonwealth bore the burden of detecting the restrictions stated in the Declaration, and had to list those restrictions explicitly [and not just the Declaration itself] as exceptions to avoid covering loss from them." Nationwide Life Ins. Co. v. Commonwealth Land Title Ins. Co., 579 F.3d 304, 319 (3d Cir.2009) ("Nationwide I").
Commonwealth filed a motion for reconsideration or, alternatively, for interlocutory appeal, and Nationwide filed a response in opposition. The District Court denied the motion for reconsideration but granted a certificate of appealability. The question certified by the District Court is:
Nationwide Life Ins. Co. v. Commonwealth Land Title Ins. Co., Order at 1, No. 05-281, 2011 WL 1045124 (E.D.Pa. Mar. 23, 2011), ECF No. 67.
The District Court had jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332. This court has jurisdiction over this interlocutory appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b).
When this case was previously before us, we noted that "[i]nterpretation of an insurance policy is a question of law over which we exercise plenary review." Nationwide I, 579 F.3d at 307. We stated, "[u]nder Pennsylvania law, which applies to this action, we ascertain the intent of the parties by reading the policy as a whole, and we give unambiguous terms their plain meaning. We also consider evidence of industry custom and practice. We construe ambiguous terms strictly against the insurer, but avoid reading the policy to create ambiguities where none exist." Id. at 307-08 (internal citations and quotation marks omitted); see also Sunbeam Corp. v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., 566 Pa. 494, 781 A.2d 1189, 1193 (2001) ("If words have a special meaning or usage in a particular industry, then members of that industry are presumed to use the words in that special way, whatever the words mean in common usage and regardless of whether there appears to be any ambiguity in the words.").
Commonwealth does not dispute that Nationwide's harm was caused by provisions within the Declaration of Restrictions. Commonwealth also does not dispute that ¶ 1(b)(2) of the ALTA 9 Endorsement applies to the Declaration of Restrictions.
The District Court held that "[a]ny loss arising as a result of any portion of that instrument — and not from any particular provision contained therein — falls within the scope of the ALTA 9 Endorsement coverage." Nationwide, 2011 WL 611802, at *14 (footnote omitted). The District Court reasoned that "[b]y its plain language,... the Endorsement only defines what types of instruments are covered and then clearly insures against any loss sustained from the instrument itself." Id. The District Court noted that "[h]ad the Endorsement meant otherwise, it would have eliminated the language `any instruments'...." Id.
We agree, and thus hold that the ALTA 9 Endorsement provides coverage to losses arising from entire instruments that fit within its plain language, not just the ¶ 1(b)(2) restrictions within those instruments that have not been expressly excepted. If ¶ 1(b)(2) was not intended to cover losses arising due to entire instruments, then the phrase "any instrument" would have been omitted, as it was in ¶ 1(b)(1), (3), (4), and (5) of the same ALTA 9 Endorsement.
Commonwealth and the Amici argue that this plain language interpretation of the ALTA 9 Endorsement provides far more coverage to the insured than the interpretation that is accepted by the vast majority of the title insurance industry. Commonwealth argues that "evidence of the ALTA 9 endorsement's customary usage within the title insurance industry makes clear that ALTA 9 is intended to provide additional coverage only for harm arising from a very specific category of extraordinary encumbrances that would affect the validity, priority, or enforceability of the insured mortgage — i.e., the ALTA 9[¶] 1(b)(2) encumbrances." Appellant's Br. at 24. Indeed, it may be that the title insurance industry has been using the ALTA 9 Endorsement with the understanding that it only provides coverage for loss resulting from the ¶ 1(b)(2) restrictions.
We will affirm the District Court's holding that the ALTA 9 Endorsement insures against any loss sustained from an instrument that is covered by the plain language of ¶ 1(b)(2). This case will return to the District Court for the determination of damages owed to Nationwide.