COUNTY MAY SUE INSURERS FOR QUAKE FUNDS.

Byline: Terri Hardy Daily News Staff Writer

Los Angeles County may go to court to collect $12.1 million in outstanding insurance claims for the red-tagged San Fernando Courthouse.

Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said Wednesday that two years of extensive meetings with the county's insurance company representatives had ground to a halt last week - and the county is running out of patience.

"On this second anniversary of the Northridge Earthquake, county taxpayers, our criminal justice system and the community of San Fernando are still being held hostage to the greed of these insurance companies," Yaroslavsky said.

"They're stalling, disputing whether the earthquake caused the damage or not," he told reporters outside the shuttered courthouse, vacant since the Northridge Earthquake. "You'd have to be an idiot to believe the earthquake didn't cause this."

A representative of the private insurance consortium Wednesday said in a written statement the insurers are still trying to resolve county claims.

Gary C. Brown, vice president of Maxson Young Associates Inc., the Glendale-based company representing a consortium of private insurers, said that "many of Yaroslavsky's comments are inaccurate or incorrect."

"The insurers have never stated that there is no earthquake damage to the San Fernando Courthouse," Brown said in the statement.

Brown said his company received letters from the county Jan. 11 demanding agreements and payments, and faxed preliminary responses.

"The insurers are considering a further response but have had only 4-1/2 working days at this point to respond," Brown said.

If an agreement has not been reached by Jan. 22, the county plans to file a lawsuit claiming bad faith and breach of contract against its consortium of private insurance carriers, said John F. Krattli, assistant county counsel.

A final architectural and engineering report outlining damage and needed repairs was completed by county engineers and outside consultants in August. That report was forwarded to the insurance carriers and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Krattli said.

In December, FEMA structural engineers agreed with the damage assessment, and pledged to give the county $1.1 million for its deductible.

The 187,000-square-foot building, built in the 1980s, had cracked support columns and walls, as well as substantial superficial damage, said Harry Stone, director of public works for the county.

The insurance companies, however, contended that damage was only superficial, Stone said.

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Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky wants resolution on San Fernando Courthouse quake Bob Halvorsen/Daily News