Atrium Boutique v. Dallas Market Center Co.

696 S.W.2d 197, 1985 Tex. App. LEXIS 12078
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 15, 1985
Docket05-84-00493-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 696 S.W.2d 197 (Atrium Boutique v. Dallas Market Center Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Atrium Boutique v. Dallas Market Center Co., 696 S.W.2d 197, 1985 Tex. App. LEXIS 12078 (Tex. Ct. App. 1985).

Opinion

STEPHENS, Justice.

Joan Bayoud and Linna Edwards, d/b/a Atrium Boutique, filed suit against Trammel Crow, Jr., Trammel Crow, Sr., William Cooper, and the Dallas Market Center Company on theories of deceptive trade practices and constructive fraud for damages resulting from the breach of an oral lease renewal option. The jury answered the special issues submitted to them in favor of all the defendants except Trammel Crow, Jr. The trial court then entered judgment on the verdict with respect to Trammel Crow, Sr., William Cooper, and the Dallas Market Center Company, and entered judgment notwithstanding the verdict with respect to Trammel Crow, Jr. On appeal, Bayoud and Edwards bring forward six points of error. We disagree with their contentions and, accordingly, affirm.

In 1979, Joan Bayoud, d/b/a Joan and Laura Boutique, and the Dallas Market Center entered into a three year lease by which Bayoud leased space in the Anatole Hotel, in Dallas, Texas. Bayoud was first contacted about opening a boutique in the Anatole by Mrs. Trammel Crow, Sr., and she was shown the lease space by Trammel Crow, Jr., on at least two occasions prior to signing the lease. In 1980, Bayoud sought and received permission, as required by the lease, to sell part of her business to Linna Edwards. Bayoud and Edwards later became equal partners, and the name of the business was changed to the Atrium Boutique. In 1981, Bayoud and Edwards decided to sell the business because Bayoud was suffering from ill health. They located a buyer and entered into a contract of sale, subject to the approval of the purchaser and the renewal of the lease by the Dallas Market Center Company. The Dallas Market Center Company notified Bayoud and Edwards that they did not approve the purchaser and that the Atrium Boutique’s lease would not be renewed.

At trial, Bayoud testified that prior to signing the lease, Trammel Crow, Jr., orally promised her that she could indefinitely renew the lease for successive three year periods notwithstanding the absence of an option provision. Crow, Jr., objected that the testimony violated the parol evidence rule and the statute of frauds; Bayoud and Edwards argued that the parol testimony concerning the oral option was not barred by the statute of frauds because a confidential relationship existed between Joan Bayoud and Crow, Jr. They asserted that the basis of this confidential relationship was the friendship and trust that developed between the Crows and the Bayouds over a period of about twenty-two years. The court permitted the testimony; the jury found that a confidential relationship did in fact exist and that Crow, Jr., breached a fiduciary duty to Bayoud by breaching his oral contract with her concerning the lease renewal.

On appeal, Bayoud and Edwards complain that the trial court erred in disregarding this jury finding. They concede, however, that unless a confidential relationship existed, they cannot recover upon their theory that Crow, Jr’s, failure to renew the lease constituted the breach of an oral lease option, because the evidence of any oral agreement would be precluded by the statute of frauds. In reviewing the entry of a judgment notwithstanding the verdict, we must consider all the evidence *199 in the light most favorable to the party against whom the judgment was rendered, and every reasonable inference from the evidence must be indulged in that party’s favor. Dowling v. NADW Marketing Inc., 631 S.W.2d 726, 728 (Tex.1982). To sustain the action of the trial court it must be determined that there is no evidence of probative force upon which the jury could have made the findings relied upon. Trenholm v. Ratcliff, 646 S.W.2d 927, 931 (Tex. 1983).

The cases upon which Bayoud and Edwards rely for the theory that damages are available for the breach of a fiduciary duty arising from a confidential relationship, all involve the imposition of a constructive trust when there is an abuse of confidence rendering the acquisition or retention of property by one person unconscionable against another. For the purpose of this opinion, we will assume that when the property acquired consists of permanent fixtures, rather than realty or personality that may be conveyed to the injured party, a constructive trust may be imposed on the value of those fixtures. 1

It is well settled that a confidential relationship sufficient to warrant the imposition of a constructive trust may arise not only from technical fiduciary relationships, such as attorney-client, trustees ces-tui que trust, partner and partners, etc., but may arise informally from moral, social, domestic, or purely personal relationships. Thigpen v. Locke, 363 S.W.2d 247 (Tex.1963); Mills v. Gray, 147 Tex. 33, 210 S.W.2d 985 (1948); Tuck v. Miller, 483 S.W.2d 898 (Tex.Civ.App.— Austin 1972, writ ref’d n.r.e.). However, the imposition of a constructive trust in these informal situations must be done with caution. Thigpen, 363 S.W.2d at 253. There must have been a previous relationship before, and apart from, the agreement made the basis of the suit, which placed the parties in a position of confidence and trust. Consolidated Gas & Equipment Co. v. Thompson, 405 S.W.2d 333, 336 (Tex.1966). The existence of the fiduciary relationship is to be determined from the actualities of the relationship of the persons involved. Thigpen, 363 S.W.2d at 253. Constructive trusts cannot arise on every moral wrong and cannot correct every injustice for this would defeat the purpose of the statute of frauds. Pope v. Garrett, 147 Tex. 18, 211 S.W.2d 559, 562 (1948).

Considering the evidence as a whole and most favorably to Bayoud and Edwards, we hold that there is not the type of evidence of justifiable trust and confidence that would create a fiduciary relationship or warrant the imposition of a constructive trust. The record reflects only that the Bayouds and the Crows were socially acquainted. The basis of this acquaintance was that Trammel Crow Jr.’s sister and Mrs. Bayoud’s daughter were childhood classmates and friends at Hockaday since the second grade. Mrs. Bayoud described her family’s acquaintance with the Crows in the following manner:

Well, I always thought that we had a very friendly, respectful relationship with each other. I felt friendly toward their family, and they were certainly friendly towards ours.

The only evidence that Mrs.

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696 S.W.2d 197, 1985 Tex. App. LEXIS 12078, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/atrium-boutique-v-dallas-market-center-co-texapp-1985.