Bauld v. Doyle

445 S.W.2d 616, 1969 Tex. App. LEXIS 2494
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 23, 1969
DocketNo. 11693
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 445 S.W.2d 616 (Bauld v. Doyle) 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
Bauld v. Doyle, 445 S.W.2d 616, 1969 Tex. App. LEXIS 2494 (Tex. Ct. App. 1969).

Opinion

O’QUINN, Justice.

Richard Doyle brought this lawsuit against Nathan Bauld seeking damages for alleged breach of a written contract to purchase a residence and lot located in Austin.

Upon hearing on motion for summary judgment filed by Doyle, the trial court entered judgment against Bauld in the sum of $3,450, allowing credit for $1,000 earnest money.

Bauld has appealed from the summary judgment and assigns error under eleven points, contending under seven points there are issues of material fact and under three points urging questions of law as to construction and validity of the contract. The last point pertains to failure of Doyle to furnish abstract of title.

Nathan Bauld and his wife executed two contracts, one dated November 19, and the other November 20, 1967, the second being substituted for the first. Again on November 30, 1967, a written contract covering the same property at the same sale price, but with revised financing provisions, was executed by Bauld but not by his wife. Mrs. Bauld declined to sign the contract and on December 15 filed suit for divorce.

The purchase price of the property was $42,400, with provision made for a down payment of $5,200, including earnest money of $1,000, the contract being conditioned upon securing a 25-year conventional mortgage loan for $37,200. The contract provided for closing the purchase on or before January 1, 1968.

Shortly after January 1 Doyle called on Bauld for performance under the contract, and Bauld advised Doyle of his intention not to buy the property. Doyle later gave notice to Bauld that he intended to sell the house and lot, and on January 28, 1968, entered into a contract to sell the property for $37,950, a trade that was completed about February 19. Afterwards Doyle brought suit against Bauld for damages of $4,450, acknowledging that $1,000 in escrow would reduce his damages by that amount.

Appellant Bauld asserts that the following issues of fact were raised which preclude the rendition of summary judgment:

1) Whether the market value of the property was $37,950 at the time of the alleged breach.
[618]*6182) Whether Mrs. Bauld, wife of appellant, made an application for a loan of $37,200.
3) Whether satisfactory commitment for a 25-year conventional mortgage loan in the amount of $37,200 was obtained for Bauld alone.
4) Whether such commitment was obtained for both Bauld and his wife.
5) Whether there was a condition precedent that the contract would not be binding until signed by Mrs. Bauld.
6) Whether there was an implied condition precedent that Mrs. Bauld would execute the purchase money note and deed of trust to secure the note to obtain the loan.
7) Whether there was a condition precedent that the property was to be used as a home for Bauld and his wife.

If the evidence raises issues of fact to be determined by a court or jury, the summary judgment is not proper and must be set aside. Smith v. Bolin, 153 Tex. 486, 271 S.W.2d 93 (1954). In determining whether there are issues of material fact, an appellate court is required to view all the evidence in the light most favorable to the party against whom the trial court entered judgment. The court is also required in such review to disregard the conflicts in the testimony and indulge every intendment reasonably deducible from the evidence in favor of the appellant. Gaines v. Hamman, 163 Tex. 618, 358 S.W.2d 557 (1962); Gulbenkian v. Penn, 151 Tex. 412, 252 S.W.2d 929 (1952); Smith v. Bolin, supra.

The burden is on the party moving for summary judgment to show there is no issue of material fact, and all doubts as to the existence of a genuine issue are resolved against the movant. Great American Reserve Insurance Company v. San Antonio Plumbing Supply Company, 391 S.W.2d 41 (Tex.1965); Tigner v. First National Bank, 153 Tex. 69, 264 S.W.2d 85 (1954).

We have observed the rules laid down by the Supreme Court in reviewing the evidence and we conclude that there exists a genuine issue of material fact as to whether a satisfactory commitment for a 25-year conventional mortgage loan, in the amount of $37,200, was obtained for Bauld.

The law is well settled that when performance under a contract is contingent upon a condition precedent, there is no obligation to perform until the contingency has occurred. Baker v. Fell, 135 Tex. 375, 144 S.W.2d 255 (1940); Pena v. Security Title Co., 267 S.W.2d 847, Tex.Civ.App., San Antonio, no writ (1954); Reinert v. Lawson, 113 S.W.2d 293, Tex.Civ.App., Waco, no writ (1938); Couch v. Stewart, 200 S.W.2d 642, Tex.Civ.App., Galveston, no writ (1947); Shaper v. Gilkison, 217 S.W.2d 878, Tex.Civ.App., Austin, writ ref. n. r. e. (1949).

Contemporaneously with, or shortly after, execution of the contracts of November 19 and November 20, Bauld and his wife jointly applied to Lumbermen’s Investment Corporation for a loan to use in buying the Doyle property. Bauld testified by deposition that this application, for a loan of $38,100, was rejected by Lumbermen’s Investment.

Upon signing the contract of November 30, Bauld alone applied for a loan of $37,-200. Bauld testified that no one informed him prior to January 1 that a loan was available. In January Doyle’s attorney advised Bauld’s attorney that “the loan is ready and waiting.” By affidavit filed in opposition to the motion for summary judgment, Bauld stated that he had never seen the commitment proffering a loan for $37,-200 and had not been informed of the terms of any commitment.

When Bauld’s deposition was taken July 25, 1968, counsel for Bauld called upon counsel for Doyle “ * * * to produce from his files [if he had it] * * * any written instrument showing that a loan [619]*619commitment was made by any financial institution, including Lumbermen’s Investment Corporation.” Doyle’s counsel stated that he had “no such instrument in [his]1 file.” The commitment called for is not found in the record.

The affidavit of the attorney for Mrs. Bauld in her divorce action was filed by counsel for Bauld in this case in opposition to the motion for summary judgment. The affidavit recites efforts by Mrs. Bauld’s attorney to obtain from Mortgage Investment Corporation and from Lumbermen’s Investment Corporation copies or other evidence of a loan commitment. The attorney states that “no commitment letter or information was subsequently provided” the attorney or Mrs. Bauld.

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445 S.W.2d 616, 1969 Tex. App. LEXIS 2494, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bauld-v-doyle-texapp-1969.