Berquist v. Onisiforou

731 S.W.2d 577, 1987 Tex. App. LEXIS 6698
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 19, 1987
DocketA14-85-682-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 731 S.W.2d 577 (Berquist v. Onisiforou) 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
Berquist v. Onisiforou, 731 S.W.2d 577, 1987 Tex. App. LEXIS 6698 (Tex. Ct. App. 1987).

Opinion

OPINION

J. CURTISS BROWN, Chief Justice.

C.M. Berquist a/k/a C.B. Riley (Riley or appellant) appeals a judgment entered following a jury trial in a suit pertaining to the sale of Riley’s Utah coal mining royalties. Riley brought suit against C.B. Woodward, Atlas Resources, Inc., and Totis Onisiforou (Onisiforou or appellee) seeking damages based on several theories of recovery including breach of a fiduciary relationship, violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA), fraud, civil conspiracy to defraud and fraud in real estate and stock transactions. Appellant brings four points of error alleging the trial court erred in disregarding the jury’s answers finding violations of the DTPA for the reason that Riley was not a consumer, in denying appellant’s Motion for Judgment and Motion to Correct Judgment, and in determining the amount awarded appellant against appellee. We find no error and affirm.

Riley allegedly elicited Woodward’s assistance in an attempt to sell her ownership interests in certain Utah coal royalty units. On or about February 21, 1978, Woodward represented to Riley that her .02 coal royalty unit had a value of $12,000.00 per unit or $24,000.00, and on or about March 24,1978, that her .05 coal royalty unit had a value of $12,000.00 per unit or $60,000.00. Woodward contacted appellee as buyer and the sale was finalized. Riley endorsed the $60,000.00 check to Woodward for reinvestment in other joint ventures, which eventually was lost.

Riley’s petition alleged that Woodward fraudulently misrepresented the value of the interests and that as a result she was induced to sell the coal royalty interests for less than their actual market value. Riley further alleged that Woodward, his company, Atlas Resources, Inc. (Atlas), and appel-lee conspired to defraud her concerning the value of the coal royalty units, and pled violations of the Deceptive Trade Practices Act, Tex.Bus. & Com.Code Ann. § 17.41 et seq. (Vernon Supp.1987), and Tex.Bus. & Com.Code Ann. § 27.01 (Vernon 1968) (Fraud in Real Estate and Stock Transactions). Riley also alleged that Woodward breached his fiduciary duty and had fraudulently obtained $60,000.00 in proceeds from the second sale of the coal royalty units under the pretext that he would reinvest the money in other joint ventures.

The case was submitted to the jury on special issues, which found with respect to the claims against appellee 1) that Woodward failed to disclose to appellant that appellee was receiving a profit/commission on the sale of two units of appellant’s Utah coal royalties; 2) that appellee knowingly benefitted from the representation made by Woodward to appellant on March 24, 1978, that one unit of the Utah coal royalty had a value of $12,000.00 and such representation constituted fraud in a real estate transaction; 3) that appellee entered into a civil conspiracy with Woodward in connection with the representation made on March 24, 1978, that one unit of the Utah coal royalty had a value of $12,000.00, and such conspiracy was a proximate cause of damage to appellant; and 4) that the civil conspiracy concerning the March 24, 1978, representation constituted an unconscionable action and a false, misleading or deceptive act that was a proximate cause of damage to appellant. The jury assessed actual damages of $35,000.00 against appellee plus $24,000.00 in exemplary damages and $4,100.00 in attorney’s fees. The trial court granted appellee’s Motion to Disregard Findings on Special Issue No. 13 relating to the DTPA claim against appel-lee for the reason that appellant was not a *579 consumer under the DTPA as a matter of law. The trial court then entered judgment against all three defendants, with $35,-000.00 in actual and $24,000.00 in exemplary damages assessed against appellee. Appellant has appealed the judgment only as it affects Onisiforou.

We first note that appellee contends appellant’s Notice of Limitation of Appeal was not timely filed and should be stricken, and that the Notice was not directed at a severable portion of the judgment as required by Tex.R.Civ.P. 353 (Vernon 1985), and is therefore ineffective to limit the scope of this appeal.

The final judgment was signed July 10, 1985. Appellant filed her Motion to Correct Judgment on August 9, 1985, which was overruled by operation of law within seventy-five days after the judgment was signed. Tex.R.Civ.P. 329b(c). A motion to correct a judgment extends the time for perfecting an appeal in the same manner as a motion for new trial. Tex.R.Civ.P. 329b(g). Appellant’s Notice of Limitation of Appeal was timely filed under Tex.R. Civ.P. 353.

Appellee also contends that appellant’s Notice was not directed at a severa-ble portion of the judgment and was therefore ineffective to limit the scope of this appeal as required by Rule 353. Appellee argues that the language used in appellant’s Notice of Limitation of Appeal that “[RjlLEY’S appeal is limited to that portion of the Trial Court’s judgment rendered against Defendant TOTIS ONISIFOROU which specifies the theory of recovery upon which judgment was rendered against Defendant TOTIS ONISIFOROU and the amount so awarded” is not a clear limitation because it necessarily calls the entire controversy into question, including theories of recovery and damages not involving appellee. We hold that appellant’s Notice was effective according to Rule 353 to narrow the scope of this Court’s review to a severable portion of the trial court’s judgment involving the damages assessed against Onisiforou based on theories of recovery found by the jury that involved Oni-siforou as distinguished from the other defendants.

Having found that appellant’s appeal is properly before this court, we address appellant’s first point of error in which she contends the trial court erred in disregarding the jury’s answers to Special Issue No. 13. The jury found in Special Issue No. 11 that appellee entered into a civil conspiracy with Woodward in connection with the March 24, 1978, representation to appellant, and in Special Issue No. 13 that this civil conspiracy constituted a violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The trial court granted appellee’s Motion to Disregard Findings on Special Issue No. 13 “for the reason that Plaintiff RILEY is not a consumer under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act, as a matter of law, in connection with her claim against Defendant ONISIFOROU.”

Appellant argues that she was a consumer in terms of her relationship to the transaction, not by contractual relationship with appellee, the only requirement being that goods or services sought or acquired by a consumer form the basis of her complaint, citing Flenniken v. Longview Bank and Trust Co., 661 S.W.2d 705 (Tex.1983). Appellant also contends the trial court by its findings against Woodward and Atlas under the DTPA established as a matter of law that she was a consumer to the transaction.

Appellee maintains that the pleadings, evidence and special issues submitted to the jury conclusively show that appellant was a seller of coal royalty interests and not a purchaser.

It is clear that only a “consumer” has standing to maintain a private cause of action for treble damages and attorney’s fees under section 17.50(a) of the DTPA. Flenniken, 661 S.W.2d at 706.

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Bluebook (online)
731 S.W.2d 577, 1987 Tex. App. LEXIS 6698, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/berquist-v-onisiforou-texapp-1987.