Court Opinion

ID: 9548013
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 17:56:20.843754+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:18:22.307846
License: Public Domain

*242HOLMAN, J.,
concurring.
The majority opinion upholds the judgment against defendant on the basis of a violation of its obligation to "have in its possession a duly assigned certificate of title or bill of sale from [its] registered owner,” as required by ORS 481.315(3) which, in turn, caused plaintiff to be unable to produce to her insurance company a certificate of title. I concur in this holding only because defendant has not contended that its failure to produce the title was not the cause of plaintiffs loss. Obviously it was not, because plaintiff’s insurance company could not legally refuse to pay as long as plaintiff had paid value for the vehicle and thereby had an insurable interest. The legal cause of her loss was the insurance company’s failure to comply with its obligation to pay for plaintiff’s loss and not her failure to produce the title. If plaintiff could legally collect against her insurance company without the certificate, defendant’s failure to produce the certificate was not the cause of her loss.