Chapter 6 - PATRICIA'S BEST DEFENSE
Patricia hired attorney Lauren Pierce.
Lauren did not deny the family had returned home earlier than Lakeshore believed.
She argued the policy language was more complicated than Grant understood.
Temporary displacement could include:
partial loss of use,
unsafe rooms,
increased food costs,
storage costs,
alternative sleeping arrangements.
True.
The basement had remained unusable for months.
True.
The family had genuine extra expenses.
True.
Then hotel invoices.
Lauren argued Patricia paid Oak Ridge Suites a monthly availability retainer so rooms would remain ready if remediation made the house temporarily unsafe.
Could that be legitimate?
Possibly.
If disclosed.
It was not.
The invoices were labeled:
ROOM OCCUPANCY.
Not reservation retainers.
May you like
And Lakeshore reimbursed them as actual lodging.
That distinction mattered.
