Bobbie White v. Josefino Bencomo III

Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided March 20, 2015·No. 03-14-00812-CV·Published

Opinion

ACCEPTED

03-14-00812-CV

4579155

THIRD COURT OF APPEALS

AUSTIN, TEXAS

3/20/2015 12:21:58 PM

JEFFREY D. KYLE

CLERK

CAUSE NO. 03-14-00812-CV

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS FILED IN 3rd COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE AUSTIN, TEXAS RD 3 JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF TEXAS 3/20/2015 12:21:58 PM AUSTIN, TEXAS JEFFREY D. KYLE Clerk

BOBBIE WHITE,

Appellant,

VS.

JOSEFINO BENCOMO III,

Appellee

APPELLANT’S BRIEF

From the District Court, 26th Judicial District of Williamson County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. 14-0374-C26, The Honorable Donna King, Judge

/s/ Tony Pitts

Tony Pitts State Bar No. 24060429

Law Office of Tony A. Pitts P.O. Box 5369 Round Rock, TX 78683 512.825.5545 512.244.4355 (Fax) tapitts@taplawfirm.com

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT

I.

IDENTITY OF PARTIES AND COUNSEL

The following is a list of all parties and all counsel in this matter:

Appellant in this matter is Bobbie White. The attorney representing

Appellant is:

Tony A. Pitts, Esq. Law Office of Tony A. Pitts P.O. Box 5369 Round Rock, TX 78683 512.825.5545 512.244.4355 (Fax) tapitts@taplawfirm.com

Appellee in this matter is Josefino Bencomo III. The attorneys representing

Appellee are:

Fred Walker Kimberly Nash Fred E. Walker, P.C. 609 Castle Ridge Road, Ste. 220 Austin, TX 78746 512.330.9977 512.330.1686 (Fax) fred@fredwalker.com knash@fredwalker.com

ii

II.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. IDENTITY OF PARTIES AND COUNSEL ………...………….. ii

II. TABLE OF CONTENTS ………………….…………iii

III. INDEX OF AUTHORITIES …………………………… iv

IV. STATEMENT OF THE CASE …………………………..… 1

V. STATEMENT REGARDING ORAL ARGUMENT .……………… 2

VI. ISSUES PRESENTED ……………………… 2

VII. STATEMENT OF THE FACTS ……………………… 3

VIII. SUMMARY OF THE ARGUMENT ………………………. 5

VIII. ARGUMENT AND AUTHORITIES ………………………. 5

A. The Warranty Deed with Vendor’s Lien Keeps the Contract Executory. ...………………………5 B. The Deed of Trust Did Not Cure the Contract of Being Executory… 7 C. Appellee’s Interpretation of Subchapter D Undermines Its Intended Purpose. ………………………………… 9 D. The Trial Court Ordered Relief Not Requested in Appellee’s Motion …………………………...…10

IX. PRAYER ……………………………...11

X. CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE ……………………………...12

XI. VERIFICATION ……………………………...12

XII. CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE ………………..…………… 13

XIII. APPENDIX ……..……………………... 14

iii

III.

INDEX OF AUTHORITIES

A. TEXAS STATUTES

Tex. Prop. Code § 5.062 ………….…………………………. 1

Tex. Prop. Code § 5.063 – 5.066 …………………………………….. 9

Tex. Prop. Code § 5.069 …………………………………….10

Tex. Prop. Code § 5.077 …………………………………….. 1

Tex. Prop. Code § 5.081 …………………………………….. 8

B. TEXAS CASE LAW

Norton v. Norton, No. 07-08-0469-CV, at *4 (Tex.App.—Amarillo 2010, mem. op.). ….…………………… 5

Cowden v. Bell, 293 S.W.2d 611, 614 (Tex.App.—San Antonio 1956), aff’d 300 S.W.2d 286 (Tex. 1957). ………………..……… 6

Zapata v. Torres, 464 S.W.2d 926, 928 (Tex.App.—Dallas 1971, no pet.)………. 6

Walton v. First Nat’l Bank of Trenton, 956 S.W.2d 647, 651 (Tex.App.— Texarkana 1997, writ denied). ……..………………… 6

Shook v. Walden, 368 S.W.3d 604, 624 (Tex.App.—Austin 2012, writ denied)…. 6

Riner v. Newman, 353 S.W.3d 312, 318 (Tex.App.—Dallas 2011, no pet.) ……... 7

Flores v. Millenium Interests, Ltd., 185 S.W.3d 427, 435 (Tex. 2005) ……………7

Epco Holdings, Inc. v. Chicago Bridge & Iron Co., 325 S.W.3d 265, 270 (Tex.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2011, pet. dismissed). ……...……..… 10

G&H Towing Co. v. Magee, 347 S.W.3d 293, 297 (Tex. 2011)………………… 10

iv

IV.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

This case involves a pure question of law concerning Subchapter D of the

Texas Property Code. There are no material facts in dispute between the parties,

not even as to damages claimed.

It is uncontested that Appellant and Appellee were parties to a real estate

transaction that had all the characteristics of an executory contract for conveyance

of real property as defined under Tex. Prop. Code § 5.062. The parties, however,

disagreed as to whether a Warranty Deed with Vendor’s Lien wherein superior title

to the subject property was retained, coupled with a Deed of Trust, caused the

executory contract for conveyance to no longer be executory.

After hearing competing motions for summary judgment, the trial court

ruled in favor of Appellee, finding that a Warranty Deed with Vendor’s Lien and

Deed of Trust did operate to make the executory contract no longer executory.

Appellant contends that the Court’s ruling in this regard is erroneous, unsupported

by the law, and threatening of the important policy considerations underlying

Subchapter D.

Appellant respectfully requests that this Court reverse the trial court ruling,

and render judgment in favor of Appellant for the relief requested in her summary

judgment motion, including an award of damages under Tex. Prop. Code § 5.077.

V.

STATEMENT REGARDING ORAL ARGUMENT

Appellant is not specifically requesting oral argument. However, oral

argument may aid the Court’s decisional process by providing the Court with an

appreciation of the parties’ conflicting interpretations of Subchapter D of the Texas

Property Code, and the important policy considerations behind it, as they pertain to

this particular set of facts.

VI.

ISSUES PRESENTED

Does a warranty deed with vendor’s lien convey sufficient title to bring an

executory contract for conveyance of real property out from under the applicability

of Subchapter D of the Texas Property Code?

If not, does Appellee have an obligation to comply with the provisions of

Subchapter D of the Texas Property Code in his dealings with Appellant, and is she

entitled to damages under Tex. Prop. Code § 5.077 for his past failure to do so?

VII.

STATEMENT OF FACTS1

7.1 Mrs. White and her husband, George White, purchased the residential

real property located at 701 Saunders Dr., Round Rock, TX 78664 (the “House”),

from Josefino Bencomo III in November 2001. The House was to be used as their

permanent residence. The Whites and Bencomo were not related.

7.2 The agreed upon purchase price of the House was $118,000.00. To

purchase the House, the Whites took out a mortgage with Long Beach Mortgage

Company for $82,600.00, who acquired a primary purchase money mortgage lien

on the House. This mortgage and its corresponding lien was subsequently assigned

to JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (“Chase”). The Whites also executed a Real Estate

Lien Note for $35,400.002 and Deed of Trust3 in favor of Bencomo, who obtained

a purchase money mortgage lien on the House secondary to Chase’s lien.

7.3 Bencomo conveyed the House to the Whites via Warranty Deed with

Vendor’s Lien4, wherein he retained superior title to the House over that of the

Whites until his lien was satisfied. The Whites thereafter began paying the

purchase money mortgages as agreed.

1

These facts are not disputed. See Exhibit G – Reporter’s Official Transcript – Hearing on Motions For Summary Judgment at 9-10; see also Plaintiff’s Motion for Summ. Judg. at 2-3. 2

See Appendix – Exhibit C.

3

See Appendix – Exhibit D.

4

See Appendix – Exhibit B.

7.4 Mrs. White lost her husband unexpectedly in December 2003.

Thereafter, she had considerable difficulty paying the mortgages. Chase worked

with Mrs. White to modify its mortgage loan so she and her family could afford to

stay in the House. Mrs. White reached out to Bencomo to lower his interest rate as

well, but he refused.

7.5 Over the years, and despite several requests, Bencomo never provided

Mrs. White with any statements showing the status of her account with him, nor

did he give her any mortgage interest statements like those she received from

Chase, which she could use as a write-off on her federal income tax return.

7.6 When Mrs. White approached Bencomo about these concerns, she

found him unwilling to provide her with annual or mortgage interest statements.

Given his refusal to account for her payments or give her mortgage interest

statements for her taxes, Mrs. White stopped making payments to Bencomo in

2008. By then, she had already made at least 72 monthly payments to Bencomo.

VIII.

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