Beltran v. Groos Bank, N.A.

755 S.W.2d 944, 7 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 292, 1988 Tex. App. LEXIS 2297, 1988 WL 93229
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedAugust 10, 1988
Docket04-87-00189-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 755 S.W.2d 944 (Beltran v. Groos Bank, N.A.) 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
Beltran v. Groos Bank, N.A., 755 S.W.2d 944, 7 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 292, 1988 Tex. App. LEXIS 2297, 1988 WL 93229 (Tex. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

OPINION

CANTU, Justice.

This appeal concerns whether appellant, Beltran, should be held liable on a letter of guaranty which he gave to appellee, Groos Bank. Appellee, the Bank, made at least two loans to Do Yon Yi and Sun Un Yi, secured by “all equipment, furniture, and equipment now owned or hereafter acquired and all proceeds thereof’ owned by the Yis in their restaurant business. Only one note, loan number 9001, dated June 3, 1985, in the principal amount of $12,634.87 is the subject of this appeal.

It is undisputed that Beltran signed a letter of guaranty in the amount of $13,-000.00 covering this note. Beltran had no interest in the restaurant for which the loan was made, nor relationship to the debtors, other than his being their attorney. The terms of the guaranty agreement limited Beltran’s liability to $13,000.00, plus interest, collection costs, and 15% of the indebtedness for attorneys’ fees.

The Yis defaulted on the note and the bank brought suit to foreclose on the collateral and recover any deficiency. The bank alleged that appellant was liable for the full amount of his letter of guaranty, $13,000.00. Appellant filed a general denial and alleged several affirmative defenses.

Trial was before the court, and the court entered judgment for the bank against appellant for the full amount of the letter of guaranty. We affirm.

Appellant raises thirteen points of error and appellee raises one cross point of error.

The points of error in each case challenge the sufficiency of the evidence, both factually and legally to support applicable findings of the trial court. We review the contentions under the well recognized rules.

When reviewing a “no evidence” complaint, the appellate court must consider only the evidence and inferences therefrom that tend to support the findings and disregard any evidence and inferences to the contrary. Garza v. Alviar, 395 S.W.2d 821, 823 (Tex.1965).

When considering factual insufficiency questions we must view the entire record in the light most favorable to the finding of the trier of fact. The finding in each instance will prevail unless such review reveals either that no probative evidence supports it or that it is so against the great weight as to be manifestly unjust. In re King’s Estate, 150 Tex. 662, 244 S.W.2d 660 (1951).

I. NOTICE

Appellant’s first four points of error concern whether proper notice was given to him prior to disposition of some of the collateral, as required by the Texas Business & Commerce Code. See TEX.BUS. & COMM.CODE ANN § 9.504(c) (Vernon Supp.1988). Appellant does not dispute that he discussed the possible sale of collateral with a representative of the bank, but he contends that § 9.504(c) requires written notice of the sale.

*946 The Dallas Court of Appeals addressed this very issue in MBank Dallas N.A. v. Sunbelt Mfg., Inc., 710 S.W.2d 633, 635-36 (Tex.App.—Dallas 1986, writ ref'd n.r.e.). That court held that the statute does not specifically require written notice, and therefore, the notice need not be written as long as it is reasonable. The important consideration is not whether the notice is written or oral, but whether it was reasonable and whether it was received within the prescribed time period. See id; see also TEX.BUS. & COMM.CODE ANN. § 1.201(38) (Vernon 1968) (receipt of any timely notice has effect of proper sending); Crest Investment Trust, Inc. v. Alatzas, 264 Md. 571, 287 A.2d 261, 264 (1972).

Appellant urges that the Dallas Court erred in its holding in MBank Dallas, supra, and he cites to a decision from the Amarillo Court of Appeals, Hensley v. Lubbock National Bank, 561 S.W.2d 885, 891 (Tex.Civ.App.—Amarillo 1978, no writ). We interpret the Hensley case to stand merely for the proposition that a sworn denial of receipt of notice is some evidence of non-notification of a sale. See id. We find no conflict between the Hensley case and the MBank Dallas case, and we believe the MBank Dallas case to be directly on point with the issue at hand. The trial court may consistently consider both evidence of oral notice and evidence of a sworn denial of receipt of notice.

We agree with the Dallas Court that written notice is not required if appellant received reasonable notice within the time period allotted. MBank Dallas, supra. Appellant testified at trial as follows:

Q: He [Mr. Roberts, the bank representative] did talk to you about that, that the bank wanted to find somebody who would buy that restaurant, didn’t he?
A: Uh-huh.
Q: In fact, he talked to you specifically about some people who might be interested in that, didn’t he?
A: A mexican restaurant, yeah.
Q: And you and he talked about how much deficiency you would be liable for if they did buy that, didn’t you?
A: He told me he was trying to sell it for the entire amount.
Q: You never talked about how much deficiency you might have with the sale price of that restaurant, on that or any other offers?
A: No. He was talking about extinguishing the note with the sale of the —to whomever he sold it to.
******
Q: Well, why was he talking to you about for the entire amount and extinguishing your liability on the note?
A: He wanted me to find somebody to take the business over. Did I have any partners or know anybody?
Q: Did you?
A: No.
Q: Well, what was he talking to you about? How much money that would keep you from having to pay the bank?
A: He mentioned something about that.
******
Q: Well, y’all discussed on several occasions the hope of Randy Roberts and in seeking your help of selling this business as an ongoing operation, didn’t you?
A: Yeah.
******
Q: Didn’t that strike you as a little odd that the bank was trying to sell that restaurant?
A: I think maybe Randy did mention something about a business broker or he knew someone in the restaurant business.

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755 S.W.2d 944, 7 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 292, 1988 Tex. App. LEXIS 2297, 1988 WL 93229, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/beltran-v-groos-bank-na-texapp-1988.