65 Butterfield v. Chicago Title Ins. Co

In 65 Butterfield v. Chicago Title Ins. Co. (1999) 70 Cal.App.4th 1047, the county government claimed an easement on property the plaintiff owned. After attempts to resolve the matter informally, the plaintiff sued the county and plaintiff's title insurer. By this time, however, the two-year statute of limitations for actions against title insurers had run. The court rejected the plaintiff's attempt to use equitable tolling to preserve its claim against the insurer for two reasons. First, in each case the plaintiff cited, "the plaintiff took formal legal action in pursuit of its alternative remedy, either against the defendant or against a third party," but the plaintiff had "merely engageed in informal settlement negotiations." Second, the court noted that "equitable tolling only applies where the defendant receives notice, within the limitations period, of the plaintiff's pursuit of the alternative remedy, so that the defendant is aware of the need to begin investigating the matter" and there was "no indication the plaintiff notified Chicago Title of its attempts to resolve the easement dispute with the County at any time during the limitations period." (Id. at p. 1063.)