Caprock Investment Corp. v. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

17 S.W.3d 707, 2000 Tex. App. LEXIS 2822
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 27, 2000
Docket11-97-00099-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 17 S.W.3d 707 (Caprock Investment Corp. v. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.) 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
Caprock Investment Corp. v. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., 17 S.W.3d 707, 2000 Tex. App. LEXIS 2822 (Tex. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinions

OPINION ’

W.G. ARNOT, III, Chief Justice.

This appeal arises out of the attempt to collect on a delinquent note. On December 30, 1987, Elton Montgomery, A1 Jon-ietz, Vernon Stevens, Tom Griffin, and Charles L. Cook, as individuals, executed a promissory note in the amount of $180,-000.00 payable to the Texas Bank & Trust Co. in Sweetwater, Texas. The loan was given for the purchase of producing oil, gas, and mineral leases in New Mexico and Oklahoma. The properties were purchased by Montgomery First Corp. and LEOH Management Co., a general partnership whose partners were Jonietz, Stevens, Griffin, and Cook. Montgomery First Corp., Jonietz, Stevens, Griffin, and Cook executed deeds of trust to Texas Bank & Trust Co. pledging the properties to secure the loan. In 1988, the borrowers defaulted on the note, and Texas Bank & Trust Co. made demand and initiated suit and foreclosure proceedings.

Although properly served, none of the borrowers originally filed an answer.1 On June 21, 1989, the trial court entered a default judgment against the borrowers for the sum of $154,349.16, the amount of unpaid principal and the accumulated interest owing; ordered foreclosure of the deed of trust liens; and ordered the sale of the secured property. Unknown to Texas Bank & Trust Co., Jonietz, one of the borrowers, had filed for protection in the bankruptcy court on June 1, 1989. On July 11, 1989, Jonietz filed a motion to set aside the trial court’s default judgment which was granted by the court on July 20, [710]*7101989. Jonietz has been subsequently severed from this suit.

On July 27, 1989, Texas Bank & Trust Co. failed, and its assets were transferred to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as Receiver (FDIC-R). On March 17, 1992, Montgomery First Corp. filed an answer and a counterclaim against Texas Bank & Trust Co., and Elton Montgomery intervened in this suit asking for a declaratory judgment as to the rights and legal status between Texas Bank & Trust Co., its receivers, Montgomery First Corp., and Elton Montgomery, individually.

FDIC-R entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with First National Bank, Sweetwater, which agreed to purchase some of the assets and assume the deposits and certain other liabilities of the failed Texas Bank & Trust Co. FDIC-R requested that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC-C) purchase certain assets of Texas Bank & Trust Co. to facilitate its purchase and assumption agreement with First National Bank, Sweetwater. On July 27,1989, the FDIC-C entered into a contract of sale with the FDIC-R, agreeing to purchase those assets of Texas Bank & Trust Co. not purchased by First National Bank, Sweetwa-ter. The contract specifically provided that FDIC-R would prepare a Schedule “A” describing the assets to be included in the sale to FDIC-C even if the schedule was not completed as of the date of sale. Also, on July 27, 1989, FDIC-R conveyed all of Texas Bank & Trust Co.’s assets not purchased by First National Bank, Sweet-water, to FDIC-C.

On April 21, 1992, FDIC-C sold the Montgomery note to Caprock Investment, Corp. On July 10, 1992, stating that it had purchased the note and that it was a successor in interest to Texas Bank & Trust Co. and FDIC-C, Caprock filed a notice of its intent to substitute itself as plaintiff and filed an amended petition suing Elton Montgomery, individually, and Montgomery First Corp. on the note, as well as the remaining partners of LEOH Management Co., Cook, Griffin, and Stevens. Elton Montgomery filed an objection to Ca-proek’s intervention. Elton Montgomery, Montgomery First Corp., Stevens, FDIC-R, and Caprock all filed motions for summary judgment.

On February 28, 1994, and on March 25, 1994, the trial court entered orders denying Caprock’s right to intervene in this cause, striking Caprock’s pleadings including its motion for summary judgment, denying FDIC-R’s motion for summary judgment, and granting summary judgment for Elton Montgomery and Stevens. On December 9, 1996, the trial court signed an order granting Montgomery First Corp.’s motion for summary judgment. The trial court later severed the actions against LEOH Management Co., Griffin, and Cook from this suit. Caprock appeals, bringing 12 points of error. We reverse and remand.

In its first five points of error, Caprock urges that the trial court erred in denying its right to intervene in this cause and in striking its pleadings. We agree.

In Guaranty Federal Savings Bank v. Horseshoe Operating Company, 793 S.W.2d 652 (Tex.1990), the Supreme Court addressed this issue. Under TEX. R.CIV.P. 60, a person or entity has the right to intervene if he could have brought the same action or any part thereof in his own name or if he would be able to defeat recovery, or some part thereof, if the action had been brought against him. Texas Supply Center, Inc. v. Daon Corporation, 641 S.W.2d 335, 337 (Tex.App.—Dallas 1982, writ ref d n.r.e); Inter-Continental Corporation v. Moody, 411 S.W.2d 578, 589 (Tex.Civ.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1966, writ refd n.r.e.). The interest asserted by the intervenor may be legal or equitable. Inter-Continental Corporation v. Moody, supra at 589. Although the trial court has broad discretion in determining whether an intervention should be stricken, it is an abuse of discretion to strike a plea in intervention if (1) the [711]*711intervenor meets the above test, (2) the intervention will not complicate the case by an excessive multiplication of the issues, and (3) the intervention is almost essential to effectively protect the interve-nor’s interest. Texas Supply Center, Inc. v. Daon Corporation, supra at 337; Inter-Continental Corporation v. Moody, supra at 589.

Elton Montgomery and Stevens allege that, because Caprock never produced the Schedule A described in the contract of sale and referred to in the assignment of assets from FDIC-R to FDIC-C, Caprock cannot prove that it is the owner of the Montgomery and Stevens’ note and that it has no right to intervene. Elton Montgomery and Stevens assert that the parties stipulated that the production of Schedule A would identify whether the note was in fact sold by FDIC-R to FDIC-C and that, having failed to produce Schedule A, Ca-prock was properly struck as a party by the court.

The stipulation referred to by Elton Montgomery and Stevens is not in the record before us. TEX.R.CIV.P. 11. In its August 1993 order setting aside its July 1993 order which allowed Caprock to appear as a substitute plaintiff, the trial court stated: “Through its failure to deliver [Schedule A], Caprock has failed to present evidence of title or ownership of the promissory note made the basis of this cause.” However, the trial court should determine the party’s justiciable interest on the basis of the sufficiency of the petition in intervention. Metromedia Long Distance, Inc. v. Hughes, 810 S.W.2d 494 (Tex.App.—San Antonio 1991, writ den’d); McCord v. Watts, 777 S.W.2d 809, 812 (Tex.App.—Austin 1989, no writ). ■ The sufficiency of the petition is tested by its allegations of fact construed in conjunction with the allegations of fact set out in the pleadings of those persons resisting the intervention. Rogers v. Searle, 533 S.W.2d 440, 442 (Tex.Civ.App.—Corpus Christi 1976, no writ).

Failure to produce Schedule A was not fatal to Caprock’s ability to prove that it is the owner of the note.

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Caprock Investment Corp. v. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
17 S.W.3d 707 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2000)

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Bluebook (online)
17 S.W.3d 707, 2000 Tex. App. LEXIS 2822, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/caprock-investment-corp-v-federal-deposit-insurance-corp-texapp-2000.