Greensboro HOA Sues State Farm Over $500K Withheld After 2022 Condo Fire

The homeowners association for Somerset Village Condominiums is suing State Farm after the insurer refused to pay roughly $500,000 the HOA says it needs to complete a rebuild following a devastating fire. Three years after the blaze tore through the complex on Lawndale Drive, residents of the gutted building remain displaced and construction has stalled.

"It's a chain reaction of nonsense," said Chris Young, who owns one of the condos in the 5004 building that burned three years ago.

The fire broke out on March 23, 2023. Drivers and people who lived nearby could see the flames shooting up at the top of the building. Fire officials say a leaking natural gas meter helped fuel the flames, though the official cause was ultimately listed as undetermined. At least two dozen people lost access to their homes and had to figure out where to go after the fire destroyed the building.

The financial dispute at the center of the lawsuit reveals a stark valuation gap between what State Farm was willing to pay and what the job actually costs. Attorneys Michael Davenport and Tracie Yarborough, who are representing the HOA, say State Farm hasn't given any explanation as to why it isn't paying or how it arrived at its estimate. Young describes the math bluntly: "[State Farm] initially offered us $1.1 million or $1.2 million to build it. The builder came back and said it's almost three times that at $3.2 million, so we're at $2.6 million, and State Farm says, 'That's it,'" he said.

The HOA says it has not received the final chunk of money needed to finish the project, which means it can't pay the builder, and because it can't pay the builder, the builder placed a lien on the condo owners. Todd Trifari, whose son owns one of the affected units, offered a pointed challenge to the insurer's position: "If you don't think it's the value of what we're saying and what the contractor is charging, find someone to do it." In a second statement captured by WGHP, Trifari added: "Let's get this done. What else is there to say? Pay it."

Davenport argues the dispute has crossed a legal line. "It's important for people to know they have a statutory right in North Carolina to have an insurance company explain their position, and that has not happened here yet," he said. Davenport says the amount being withheld is small in his eyes in the context of the overall claim.

The documentation problem runs deeper than the core dollar dispute. According to the HOA, State Farm has pushed back on how much money owners should be reimbursed for because some don't have photo proof of upgrades they made to their condos. The Trifaris, for their part, are still waiting to hear from State Farm about how and if they'll be reimbursed for upgrades they made to the unit before the fire.

State Farm, in a statement to WGHP, said: "We always want to respect and protect customer privacy, so we do not discuss the details of any individual claims," adding that "we're committed to paying what we owe and making sure every claim gets the careful attention it deserves."

Davenport's advice to any Guilford County homeowner watching this dispute unfold: photograph everything inside your home, including appliances, cabinets, and other upgrades, before you ever need to file a claim. For the owners along Lawndale Drive, that lesson arrived three years too late.