Benson v. San Antonio Savings Ass'n

365 S.W.2d 388, 1963 Tex. App. LEXIS 1632
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 20, 1963
DocketNo. 11049
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 365 S.W.2d 388 (Benson v. San Antonio Savings Ass'n) 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
Benson v. San Antonio Savings Ass'n, 365 S.W.2d 388, 1963 Tex. App. LEXIS 1632 (Tex. Ct. App. 1963).

Opinion

ARCHER, Chief Justice.

This is an action brought by appellee to set aside an order of the Savings and Loan Commissioner of the State of Texas, denying its application for permission to open and operate its eleventh branch office in, San Antonio, Texas, (said branch to be located in Handy-Andy Grocery Store No. 23, located at 4600 Fredericksburg Road). Ap-pellee’s application was submitted in July of 1961, a hearing was held on September 26, 1961, and the Commissioner’s order of denial was entered on October 26, 1961, on the grounds that the public convenience and advantage would not be promoted; that undue injury to Alamo Savings and Loan Association would result, and that the area designated by appellee was adequately served.

Appellee brought this suit, alleging that such order, and the Commissioner’s action, was “illegal, unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious and deprives (appellee.) of its [390]*390rights without due process of law.” Appellants First Federal Savings and Loan Association of San Antonio, Travis Savings and Loan Association and Texas Savings and Loan Association, as well as Alamo Savings and Loan Association, all located in the City of San Antonio, Texas, intervened in support of the Savings and Loan Commissioner’s denial.

Following a pretrial hearing and order, the parties went to trial on April 16, 1962. The court entered judgment in favor of ap-pellee, holding: (1) that the order of the defendant denying appellee’s application was not reasonably supported by substantial evidence and was unreasonable, arbitrary, and capricious, and was, therefore, null and void; (2) that appellee is granted permission to maintain and operate said branch office in San Antonio; (3) that defendant Commissioner, his employees and agents, and anyone acting for him are permanently enjoined from enforcing said order or interfering in any manner with the opening, maintenance and operation of appellee’s office; (4) that said Commissioner, his employees and agents were to enter such orders, execute such instruments and take such other action as may be required to enable appellee to open and operate said office, so long as appellee complies with the valid rules and regulations of the Savings and Loan Commissioner; and (S) that the procedures and actions of the Commissioner did not deny appellee due process of law.

The appeal is founded on three points, with five subpoints under point No. 1, and in substance are that the Trial Court erred in setting aside the order of the Commissioner dated October 26, 1961, which denied appellee’s application to maintain a branch office in Handy-Andy Grocery Store No. 23, as not being reasonably supported by substantial evidence, in holding that public convenience and advantage in the area proposed to be served would be promoted by allowing the establishment of the office; in holding that there is no other association adequately serving the neighborhood; in holding proposed operation would not unduly injure any other association operating in the neighborhood; in holding that the volume of business at the proposed location is such as to indicate a profitable operation; in holding that appellee has operated its principal office for at least three years in accordance with law; in holding that Section 3.3(f) of Chapter 3 of the Rules and Regulations for Building and Loan Associations, as amended November 5, 1960, is not applicable, and in overruling appellant’s objections to appellee’s questions inquiring into the purported bias or prejudice of the Commissioner.

The record is long and we have read and considered such in detail but will not attempt to state such herein, other than to determine if the finding of the Commissioner is reasonably supported by the record, as adduced on the trial.

The issue before a Trial Court in an appeal from an order of the Commissioner denying (or granting) an application, to be determined, is: Was such action illegal or without reasonable support by substantial evidence? An order of the Commissioner is presumed valid, and the Court cannot substitute its discretion for that of the Commissioner.

We, then, consider whether or not the Commissioner’s order may be supported by the testimony under the substantial evidence rule.

Under Article 88la-2, Vernon’s Ann.Civ. St., the Commissioner finds to his satisfaction, certain fact situations.

In this instant case the Commissioner appears to have been satisfied with all phases of the application except two, although he made no findings to such effect. In stating his reasons for denying the application the Commissioner said:

“The public convenience and advantage will not be promoted by allowing such proposed additional office to engage in business taking into consideration that the proposed location of said additional [391]*391office is only 2.1 miles from the applicant’s Service Center # 7, 2716 Fredericksburg Road; that proposed operation will unduly injure the Alamo Savings and Loan Association presently 3 miles distant and only 1.7 miles from their future location (land purchased for erection of) office building at the corner of Fredericksburg Road and Vance Jackson Road; that the proposed area is being adequately served.”

Since the only fact finding made hy the Commissioner is that public convenience and advantage will not be promoted by allowing such proposed additional office to engage in business; and, that the proposed operation will unduly injure the Alamo Savings and Loan Association. The Alamo is not appealing and is no longer a party to the case.

We therefore do not consider as essential to a disposition of this appeal, other phases of the case since we judge the propriety of the Commissioner’s action solely by the reasons given therein. Cleveland A. Skates v. City of Paris, No. A-9237, Vol. 6, Page 226, No. 14, T.S.C.J., January 12, 1963. Burlington Truck Lines v. United States, 371 U.S. 156, 83 S.Ct. 239, 9 L.Ed.2d 207, December 17, 1962.

The evidence relied on in refusing the application may be sufficiently reviewed without going into too great detail, as that given by Roy E. McGinnis, a witness called by the defendant, who testified that he was vice-president of Alamo Savings & Loan Association and detailed his qualifications and experience in the savings and loan industry and as to the area of the proposed location of the branch office and the Wonderland City and the population and trade of the business situated therein. The witness further testified as to the number and location of the several branches of loan associations, and the expenses of usual operations and of the expected revenue and doubted that the branch proposed would realize a profit within three years, (the witness described the effort to secure a new location by the Alamo and the granting thereof and that he believed that the granting of the branch sought by the plaintiff would injure Alamo) and that the operation of a savings and loan branch in a grocery store was undignified and actually unsafe and extravagantly costly in nature.

Louis L. Michael, called by defendant, testified that he was president of Travis Savings & Loan Association, an intervenor, and of his experience in the loan and real estate business and that his association had no branches.

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Related

Benson v. San Antonio Savings Association
374 S.W.2d 423 (Texas Supreme Court, 1963)

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Bluebook (online)
365 S.W.2d 388, 1963 Tex. App. LEXIS 1632, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/benson-v-san-antonio-savings-assn-texapp-1963.