AFFIRM; and Opinion Filed May 16, 2016.
S In The Court of Appeals Fifth District of Texas at Dallas No. 05-15-00397-CV
BARBARA SIPRIANO, Appellant V. REGIONAL FINANCE CORPORATION OF TEXAS AND ABEL GARCIA, Appellees
On Appeal from the County Court at Law No. 4 Dallas County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. CC-13-02841-D
MEMORANDUM OPINION Before Justices Fillmore, Stoddart, and Schenck Opinion by Justice Fillmore Barbara Sipriano sued Regional Finance Corporation of Texas (Regional) based on its
conduct in attempting to collect a debt from her. Regional answered the lawsuit and
subsequently filed counterclaims, seeking to recover the debt from Sipriano. Seven months after
Sipriano filed suit, Regional filed an application to stay the litigation and to compel arbitration.
The trial court granted the application, and the parties’ claims were arbitrated. Based on the
arbitrator’s award, the trial court rendered a take-nothing judgment as to all claims. Sipriano
appeals from that judgment, asserting Regional waived its right to arbitrate by substantially
invoking the judicial process to her prejudice. We affirm the trial court’s judgment.
Background
To facilitate her purchase of a bed from Metroplex Furniture Show (Metroplex), Sipriano
signed a Retail Installment Contract and Security Agreement (the Contract), pursuant to which she agreed to pay the purchase price and related interest through twenty-four monthly payments.
The Contract provided that, at the election of either of the parties,
[A]ny claim or dispute in contract, tort, statute or otherwise between you and us or our employees, agents, successors or assigns that arises out of or relates to your credit application, this Contract or any resulting transaction or relationship including those with third parties who do not sign this Contract, is to be decided by neutral, binding arbitration.
The parties agreed the Federal Arbitration Act (the FAA) governed the arbitration agreement.
Metroplex assigned the Contract to Regional.
Sipriano paid only three of the payments required by the Contract, and Regional began
contacting Sipriano and her friends and family in an attempt to collect the balance that Sipriano
owed. On May 15, 2013, Sipriano sued Regional, alleging its conduct in attempting to collect
the debt violated chapter 329 of the finance code, constituted unreasonable debt collection
practices, and invaded her privacy. Sipriano’s original petition also contained a request for
disclosures pursuant to rule of civil procedure 194.
Regional filed its answer on June 7, 2013. Regional asserted a number of affirmative
defenses to Sipriano’s claims, but did not assert it had a contractual right to arbitrate the dispute.
On June 14, 2013, Sipriano served Regional with interrogatories, requests for production, and
requests for admissions. On June 26, 2013, the trial court ordered the parties to mediate the
dispute no later than October 30, 2013, and set the case for trial on November 8, 2013.
Regional objected and responded to Sipriano’s written discovery on August 2, 2013, and
designated an expert witness as to the reasonableness of attorney’s fees on August 12, 2013.
Regional served Sipriano with requests for disclosure on August 19, 2013 and with
interrogatories, requests for admissions, and request for production on August 27, 2013. 1 On
1 Only Regional’s letter transmitting the August 27th discovery is in the record. We, therefore, cannot determine the extent or focus of these discovery requests. See Garg v. Pham, No. 14-14-00787-CV, 2015 WL 9598863, at *13 (Tex App.—Houston [14th Dist.] Dec. 31, 2015, no pet.) (“Knowing the content of discovery is important in determining prejudice because when only a minimal amount of discovery has been
–2– August 27, 2013, the trial court reset the case for trial on November 21, 2013. Regional filed
counterclaims based on breach of contract, quantum meruit, and suit on a sworn account on
August 30, 2013, seeking to recover the balance owed under the Contract as well as attorneys’
fees.
On September 3, 2013, the trial court reset the trial for January 15, 2014. Sipriano filed a
motion to compel responses to its discovery on September 24, 2013, and Regional responded to
the motion on September 30, 2013. The trial court heard Sipriano’s motion to compel on
October 7, 2013 and granted the motion in part. Regional filed a motion for summary judgment
on its counterclaims for breach of contract and suit on a sworn account on October 7, 2013, and
set the motion for summary judgment for hearing on November 11, 2013.
The parties participated in an unsuccessful mediation on October 8, 2013. Also in
October 2013, Regional requested dates to take Sipriano’s deposition, and Sipriano requested
dates to take the deposition of Regional’s corporate representative. On October 21, 2013,
Regional sent a notice of its intent to take Sipriano’s deposition on November 19, 2013, but later
canceled the deposition.
Regional filed an amended motion for summary judgment on October 25, 2013, and set it
for hearing on November 18, 2013. Regional attached summary judgment evidence that the
unpaid balance on the Contract was $1,387.05 and Regional had incurred approximately $9,000
in attorneys’ fees to prosecute its counterclaims against Sipriano. On October 30, 2013, Sipriano
filed a motion to continue the hearing on the amended motion for summary judgment and to
extend the deadline for her to designate an expert witness. Regional responded to Sipriano’s
motion on October 31, 2013, indicating it could not agree to continue the hearing on the
conducted, which may also be useful for the purpose of arbitration, we may not infer waiver based upon prejudice.”); IBS Asset Liquidations LLC. v. Servicios Multiples Del Norte S.A. De C.V., 419 S.W.3d 573, 575–76 (Tex. App.—San Antonio 2013, pet. denied) (concluding there was no showing of prejudice because court could not ascertain contents of discovery requests from “sparse record” and complaints about delay were too generalized).
–3– amended motion for summary judgment due to the January 15, 2014 trial setting. On November
1, 2013, Sipriano filed an amended petition naming Abel Garcia, an employee of Regional, as a
defendant and asserting additional claims against Regional based on negligent hiring,
supervision, training, or retention of Garcia.
Sipriano’s motion for continuance and to extend the deadline to designate an expert
witness was set for hearing on November 4, 2013. Although the record does not contain any
ruling by the trial court on Sipriano’s motion, on November 4, 2013, the trial court reset the trial
for May 14, 2014. On November 7, 2013, Regional set the hearing on its amended motion for
summary judgment for February 24, 2014.
On November 13, 2013, Regional filed both an amended answer in which it asserted it
had a contractual right to arbitration and an application to compel arbitration and stay the trial
court proceedings. Sipriano took the deposition of Regional’s corporate representative on
November 20, 2013. Garcia filed his original answer on December 6, 2013, asserting a
contractual right to arbitration and, on December 13, 2013, Sipriano nonsuited her claims against
Garcia. On January 2, 2014, Sipriano responded to Regional’s application to compel arbitration,
attaching correspondence between the parties, portions of the contract and the parties’ discovery
requests and responses, and an affidavit from her counsel stating Sipriano paid $450 to
participate in the mediation and had incurred attorneys’ fees of $11,925 in prosecuting the case.
Attached to the affidavit were Sipriano’s counsel’s billing statements.
The trial court heard Regional’s application to compel arbitration on January 6, 2014.
Sipriano relied on the attachments to her response, and neither Regional nor Sipriano offered any
evidence at the hearing. The trial court granted Regional’s application, stayed the litigation, and
ordered the parties to arbitration. In the arbitration proceeding, Sipriano asserted claims against
both Regional and Garcia and sought to recover mental anguish damages of $50,000, exemplary
–4– damages of $150,000, attorney’s fees of $25,200, court costs of $4,513.81, and contingent
attorneys’ fees for appeal. She also requested a permanent injunction preventing Regional and
Garcia from attempting to collect debts until they implemented adequate debt collection policies,
procedures, and training. The arbitration was held from September 3, 2014, through September
4, 2014. Prior to the arbitration hearing, Sipriano paid Regional the amount due under the
Contract, and the arbitrator found that Regional’s counterclaims for breach of contract and suit
on a sworn account were moot. The arbitrator ordered that both Regional and Sipriano recover
nothing on their claims. 2
Sipriano filed a motion requesting the trial court lift the stay and reconsider the order
granting Regional’s application to compel arbitration. Regional filed a motion to confirm the
arbitrator’s award. The trial court granted Sipriano’s motion to lift the stay, denied Sipriano’s
motion to reconsider, and granted Regional’s motion to confirm the arbitrator’s award. Based on
the arbitrator’s award, the trial court rendered judgment that Regional and Sipriano take nothing
on their claims. Sipriano filed this appeal, asserting the trial court erred by granting Regional’s
application to compel arbitration.
Analysis
When the parties do not contest the relevant facts, 3 waiver of contractual arbitration rights
is a question of law subject to de novo review. Kennedy Hodges, L.L.P. v. Gobellan, 433 S.W.3d
542, 545 (Tex. 2014) (per curiam). Whether a party has waived arbitration must be decided on a
case-by-case basis, based upon an examination of the totality of the circumstances. Perry Homes
2 The arbitrator found that Sipriano failed to carry her burden of proof on her claims and, noting the amount of attorneys’ fees requested by Regional was contrary to its written policy of recovering attorneys’ fees “up to 15 percent of the unpaid balance provided the account is assigned to an outside attorney,” denied Regional’s claim for attorneys’ fees. 3 Generally, a party seeking to compel arbitration under the FAA must establish (1) the existence of a valid arbitration agreement, and (2) that the claims at issue fall with that agreement’s scope. In re Kellogg Brown & Root, Inc., 166 S.W.3d 732, 737 (Tex. 2005) (orig. proceeding). The parties do not dispute the validity of the arbitration agreement, the applicability of the arbitration agreement, or the procedural history of this case in the trial court and the arbitration.
–5– v. Cull, 258 S.W.3d 580, 591 (Tex. 2008). A party may waive contractual arbitration rights
either expressly, through a clear repudiation of the right, or impliedly, through conduct
inconsistent with a claim to the right. G.T. Leach Builders, LLC v. Sapphire V.P., L.P., 458
S.W.3d 502, 511 (Tex. 2015). In this case, Sipriano asserts Regional impliedly waived its
contractual right to arbitration. 4
Any conduct that constitutes an implied waiver of the right to arbitrate must be
“unequivocal.” Perry Homes, 258 S.W.3d at 593. “A party asserting implied waiver as a
defense to arbitration has the burden to prove that (1) the other party has ‘substantially invoked
the judicial process,’ which is conduct inconsistent with a claimed right to compel arbitration,
and (2) the inconsistent conduct has caused it to suffer detriment or prejudice.” G.T. Leach
Builders, LLC, 458 S.W.3d at 511–12 (quoting Perry Homes, 258 S.W.3d at 593–94); see also
Kennedy Hodges, L.L.P., 433 S.W.3d at 543. With regard to both prongs of the implied-waiver
defense, “this hurdle is a high one” because “the law favors and encourages arbitration.” G.T.
Leach Builders, LLC, 458 S.W.3d at 512 (quoting Richmont Holdings, Inc. v. Superior Recharge
Sys., L.L.C., 455 S.W.3d 573, 574–75 (Tex. 2014) (per curiam)); see also Perry Homes, 258
S.W.3d at 590 (“Due to the strong presumption against waiver of arbitration, this hurdle is a high
one.”). The party asserting implied waiver bears a “heavy burden of proof,” and the court must
resolve all doubts in favor of arbitration. In re Bruce Terminix Co., 988 S.W.2d 702, 705 (Tex.
1998) (orig. proceeding) (per curiam).
“The judicial process is substantially invoked when the party seeking arbitration has
taken specific and deliberate actions, after the filing of the suit, that are inconsistent with the
right to arbitrate or has actively tried, but failed, to achieve a satisfactory result through litigation
4 Further, the record does not reflect any express waiver by Regional of its contractual right to arbitration. See G.T. Leach Builders, LLC, 458 S.W.3d at 511 (express waiver occurs through “clear repudiation of the right” to arbitrate); Okorafor v. Uncle Sam & Assocs., Inc., 295 S.W.3d 27, 39 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2009, pet. denied) (party makes express waiver when it “affirmatively indicates that it wishes to resolve the case in the judicial forum, rather than through arbitration”).
–6– before turning to arbitration.” Pilot Travel Ctrs., LLC v. McCray, 416 S.W.3d 168, 183 (Tex.
App.—Dallas 2013, no pet.) (citing In re Vesta Ins. Grp., Inc., 192 S.W.3d 759, 763 (Tex. 2005)
(orig. proceeding) (per curiam)). In determining whether a party has substantially invoked the
judicial process, courts consider such factors as: (1) when the movant knew of the arbitration
clause; (2) how much discovery was conducted; (3) who initiated the discovery; (4) whether the
discovery related to the merits rather than arbitrability or standing; (5) how much of the
discovery would be useful in arbitration; and (6) whether the movant sought judgment on the
merits. Kennedy Hodges, L.L.P., 433 S.W.3d at 545 (citing Perry Homes, 258 S.W.3d at 591–
92).
However, “[e]ven substantially invoking the judicial process does not waive a party’s
arbitration rights unless the opposing party proves that it suffered prejudice as a result.” In re
Bruce Terminix Co., 988 S.W.2d at 704; see also Perry Homes, 258 S.W.3d at 593. Prejudice,
in this context, refers to inherent unfairness in terms of delay, expense, or damage to a party’s
legal position that occurs when the party’s opponent forces it to litigate an issue and later seeks
to arbitrate that same issue. Perry Homes, 258 S.W.3d at 597. Such unfairness results when a
party attempts “to have it both ways by switching between litigation and arbitration to its own
advantage[.]” Id.
Mere delay in asserting the right to arbitration is not ordinarily enough to establish
prejudice, even if it is substantial. G.T. Leach Builders, LLC, 458 S.W.3d at 515; In re Vesta Ins.
Grp., Inc., 192 S.W.3d at 763. Prejudice is more easily shown when a party delays his request
for arbitration and in the meantime engages in pretrial activity inconsistent with an intent to
arbitrate. Perry Homes, 258 S.W.3d at 600. In determining whether prejudice exists, we
consider the litigation activities that occurred during the period of delay, and how those activities
affected the party opposing arbitration. Id.; see also In re Vesta Ins. Grp., Inc., 192 S.W.3d at
–7– 763 (party does not waive arbitration merely by delay, and instead, party urging waiver must
establish that any delay resulted in prejudice).
We first consider whether Sipriano, as the party opposing arbitration, met her burden of
establishing prejudice from Regional’s delay in seeking arbitration. See Perry Homes, 258
S.W.3d at 599 (proof of prejudice is required; proof establishing precise extent of that prejudice
is not). Sipriano argues she was prejudiced because she incurred direct out-of-pocket expenses
while the case was pending in the trial court, she was required to defend Regional’s claim for
attorneys’ fees, it took longer to resolve the dispute, and Regional’s attempt to “have it both
ways” was inherently unfair.
Sipriano first argues her attorney’s affidavit and billing records established that she
incurred approximately $3,000 in expenses and attorneys’ fees relating to responding to
Regional’s discovery requests, seeking a continuance on Regional’s motion for summary
judgment, and attending the mediation. Relying on Ideal Roofing, Inc. v. Armbruster, No. 05-
13-00446-CV, 2013 WL 6063724 (Tex. App.—Dallas Nov. 18, 2013, no pet.) (mem. op.),
Sipriano argues these fees and expenses are comparable to amounts this Court has concluded
demonstrate prejudice and would not have been incurred if Regional had asserted its right to
arbitration earlier in the litigation. 5
In Ideal Roofing, we determined, based on the totality of the circumstances, that the
appellees established the appellants, who were seeking to compel arbitration, had substantially
invoked the litigation process to the appellees’ prejudice. Id. at *8–9. In concluding the
appellees had established prejudice, we relied on a number of facts from the record, including:
5 In his affidavit, Sipriano’s attorney stated Sipriano had incurred over $11,000 in attorney’s fees at the time of the hearing on Regional’s application to compel arbitration. In her brief, Sipriano specifically relies on the $3,000 in fees and expenses she contends were related to the mediation, responding to Regional’s discovery, and obtaining a continuance on Regional’s motion for summary judgment, but asserts, “In all probability, however, much more litigation expense was incurred than would have been necessary in arbitration[.]” This generalized complaint is insufficient to establish prejudice. See Branch Law Firm L.L.P. v. Osborn, No. 14-14-00892-CV, 2016 WL 444867, at *15–16 (Tex. App.— Houston [14th Dist.] Feb. 4, 2016, no pet. h.) (party failed to prove claimed prejudice from delay in seeking arbitration); IBS Asset Liquidations LLC, 419 S.W.3d at 575–76.
–8– (1) requiring the appellees, who had filed the lawsuit in Dallas, to participate in an arbitration in
Houston, the venue established by the arbitration agreement, would be an economic hardship for
the appellees; (2) the appellees’ attorney represented them under a contingency fee agreement
that required the appellees to pay certain expenses, including the fees of their expert witness; (3)
the appellees had paid their expert witness $3,500, which included fees billed by the expert for
attending the deposition taken by the appellants; (4) the arbitration agreement did not specify that
discovery conducted in the litigation could be utilized in the arbitration without the necessity for
the duplication of both the written discovery and the depositions of the appellees’ expert and one
of the appellees; (5) the appellees had incurred the expenses of two days of mediation, only to
have the appellants move to compel arbitration with the attendant expenses arbitration entails;
and (6) the appellees argued to the trial court at the hearing on the motion to compel arbitration
that they did not intend to take depositions, would rely on the discovery that had been conducted,
and were ready to proceed to trial months before the hearing on the motion to compel arbitration.
Id. at *8–9. 6 Ideal Roofing does not stand for the proposition that incurring attorneys’ fees and
expenses in the litigation is sufficient, standing alone, to establish prejudice for purposes of
determining a party has waived contractual arbitration rights. Rather, attorneys’ fees and costs
incurred in the litigation are only one factor in determining whether a party has been prejudiced
by a delay in asserting contractual arbitration rights. See Perry Homes, 258 S.W.3d at 597;
6 The record in this case does not demonstrate prejudice similar to that established in Ideal Roofing. There was no evidence that participating in arbitration would be an economic hardship for Sipriano. Sipriano filed this litigation in Dallas County, the arbitration agreement provided the arbitration would take place in “the federal district” where Sipriano resides, and the arbitration was conducted in Dallas County. There was no evidence the discovery that was conducted in the litigation could not be used in the arbitration, and Regional’s counsel represented to the trial court during the hearing on Sipriano’s motion to reconsider that the discovery taken in the litigation had been used in the arbitration. The arbitration agreement required Regional to advance a maximum of $1,500 toward Sipriano’s filing, administration, service, or case management fees, as well as the arbitrator or hearing fee, and JAMS, the arbitration organization selected to conduct the arbitration, noted in correspondence to the parties that its Policy on Consumer Arbitrations, Minimum Standards of Procedural Fairness provided “the non-consumer party is responsible for 100% of the cost of the arbitration and will be billed accordingly.” Although the arbitrator was permitted to award JAMS fees and expenses against any party, the arbitrator did not provide for any allocation of fees and costs in her final order. Finally, Sipriano never represented she was ready to go to trial on January 15, 2014, and the events occurring in the litigation shortly before the hearing on Regional’s application to compel arbitration indicate Sipriano was not ready to go to trial on January 15, 2014.
–9– Ellman v. JC Gen. Contractors, 419 S.W.3d 516, 522 (Tex. App.—El Paso 2013, no pet.)
(concluding cost is only one dimension of prejudice).
Sipriano next contends she was prejudiced by Regional’s delay in asserting its right to
arbitrate because she was required to defend a claim for attorneys’ fees that should never have
been brought, at least in the amount sought by Regional, and to litigate Regional’s counterclaim,
which became moot after she paid the debt prior to the arbitration. However, Sipriano made the
decision to pay the amount owed under the Contract after the arbitration proceeding was
initiated, causing Regional’s counterclaims to become moot, and we cannot conclude her
decision to pay the debt at that time is any evidence of prejudice she incurred from Regional’s
delay in seeking the arbitration. As to the amount of attorneys’ fees sought by Regional,
Sipriano does not dispute that Regional had a right under the Contract to seek to recover
attorneys’ fees on its counterclaims against her; rather, she claims the amount was excessive.
However, given Sipriano’s persuasive argument that the amount of attorneys’ fees sought by
Regional was contrary to its own policy, we cannot conclude Sipriano has demonstrated the
amount of Regional’s claim for attorneys’ fees is sufficient prejudice to overcome the strong
presumption in favor of arbitration. See, e.g. In re Vesta Ins. Grp. Inc., 192 S.W.3d at 763 (party
failed to show sufficient prejudice from incurring more than $200,000 in expenses and fees due
to “prolonged and extensive discovery” to overcome strong presumption against waiver).
Sipriano next contends she was prejudiced by the delay in the resolution of the entire
dispute and from inefficiencies in restarting the case in a new forum. There is nothing in the
record that indicates there were any inefficiencies after the arbitration was initiated or that any
work done in the litigation had to be repeated in the arbitration. As to the delay in resolving the
dispute, Sipriano contends the case would have been tried in January 2014, as opposed to being
arbitrated in September 2014, if Regional had not pursued an excessive claim for attorneys’ fees
–10– in the trial court. However, Sipriano was still conducting discovery in November 2013, had
requested additional time to designate an expert witness, and added Garcia as a defendant in
December 2013, and there is no evidence Sipriano was prepared to go to trial on January 15,
2014. Although the record does not establish its extent, additional discovery was done after the
arbitration was initiated, further indicating the case was not ready to be tried when the trial court
granted Regional’s application to compel arbitration. On this record, Sipriano did not establish
she was prejudiced because the arbitration was not conducted until September 2014. See In re
Vesta Ins. Grp., Inc., 192 S.W.3d at 763 (where there was no evidence of prejudice from delay in
asserting right to arbitration, two-year delay was insufficient to establish waiver of right to
arbitrate).
Finally, relying on Perry Homes, Sipriano claims she was prejudiced because of the
unfairness which arose from Regional’s “attempts to manipulate its arbitration rights and have it
both ways.” In Perry Homes, the supreme court determined a party waived arbitration by
litigation conduct. See Perry Homes, 258 S.W.3d at 596–97. However, the record in Perry
Homes showed the plaintiffs: objected to arbitration initially, then after fourteen months of
litigation changed their minds and moved to compel arbitration; obtained extensive discovery on
all aspects of the case under one set of rules, then sought to arbitrate the case under another;
delayed disposition by switching to arbitration when trial was imminent; and requested the trial
court order discovery, and then limited their opponents’ rights to appellate review. Id. at 597;
see also Kennedy Hodges, L.L.P., 433 S.W.3d at 545. “Such manipulation of litigation for one
party’s advantage and another’s detriment is precisely the kind of inherent unfairness that
constitutes prejudice under federal and state law.” Perry Homes, 258 S.W.3d at 597.
The prejudice shown in Perry Homes is not established here. Regional never objected to
arbitration. The extent and scope of Regional’s written discovery to Sipriano cannot be
–11– determined from this record, 7 and Regional took no depositions in the case. There is no showing
Regional obtained access to information in the litigation that it could not obtain in arbitration or
that Regional attempted to obtain discovery under one set of rules and then arbitrate under a
different set of rules. Regional sought to compel arbitration slightly more than seven months
after suit was filed and more than five months before the trial setting. Finally, in contrast to
Perry Homes, there is little evidence that Regional engaged in conduct during the period of delay
that limited any right of Sipriano’s or was an attempt by Regional to manipulate the litigation for
its advantage and Sipriano’s prejudice. See Pilot Travel Ctrs., LLC, 416 S.W.3d at 186
(concluding no waiver where parties failed to carry “burden to establish expense or damage to
their legal position”); Ground Force Constr. LLC v. Coastline Homes LLC, No. 14-13-00649-
CV, 2014 WL 2158160, at *8 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] May 22, 2014, no. pet.) (mem.
op.).
Based on the totality of the circumstances, we conclude, on this record, that Sipriano
failed to clear the “high hurdle” of establishing she was prejudiced by Regional’s delay in
seeking to compel arbitration. Accordingly, we need not determine whether Regional’s conduct
substantially invoked the judicial process. See TEX. R. APP. P. 47.1; Tex. Residential Mortg.,
L.P. v. Portman, 152 S.W.3d 861, 863–64 (Tex. App.—Dallas 2005, no pet.) (concluding there
was no waiver of right to arbitration when party resisting arbitration did not meet burden to show
he suffered prejudice).
7 See Garg, 2015 WL 9598863, at *13; IBS Asset Liquidations, LLC, 419 S.W.3d at 575–76.
–12– We resolve Sipriano’s issue against her and affirm the trial court’s judgment.
/Robert M. Fillmore/ ROBERT M. FILLMORE JUSTICE
150397F.P05
–13– S Court of Appeals Fifth District of Texas at Dallas JUDGMENT
BARBARA SIPRIANO, Appellant On Appeal from the County Court at Law No. 4, Dallas County, Texas, No. 05-15-00397-CV V. Trial Court Cause No. CC-13-02841-D. Opinion delivered by Justice Fillmore, REGIONAL FINANCE CORPORATION Justices Stoddart and Schenck participating. OF TEXAS AND ABEL GARCIA, Appellees
In accordance with this Court’s opinion of this date, the judgment of the trial court is AFFIRMED.
It is ORDERED that appellees Regional Finance Corporation of Texas and Abel Garcia recover their costs of this appeal from appellant Barbara Sipriano.
Judgment entered this 16th day of May, 2016.
–14–