Chapman v. Olbrich

217 S.W.3d 482, 2006 WL 1765934
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 1, 2007
Docket14-05-00056-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 217 S.W.3d 482 (Chapman v. Olbrich) 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
Chapman v. Olbrich, 217 S.W.3d 482, 2006 WL 1765934 (Tex. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinions

MAJORITY OPINION

KEM THOMPSON FROST, Justice.

Appellants James and Patricia Chapman, sellers under a real estate sales contract, appeal the trial court’s judgment in favor of the buyers, appellees Doug and Eleanor Olbrich. Based on a unanimous jury’s findings, the trial court exercised its equitable powers to award the Olbrichs specific performance on their contract to purchase real property from the Chap-mans. The main issue on appeal is whether there is legally sufficient evidence to support an award of specific performance to the Olbrichs. We conclude that there is legally sufficient evidence to support the trial court’s grant of specific performance. Because the Chapmans’ other issues lack merit, we affirm the trial court’s judgment.

I. Factual and ProcedüRal Background

The Chapmans owned three lots in the Timberlakes Estate subdivision. In 1999, the Olbrichs purchased a lot adjacent to the Chapmans’ property. On Easter Sunday of 2002, the Olbrichs learned the Chapmans were interested in selling their property and moving elsewhere.

On April 3, 2002, the Olbrichs, interested in purchasing one of the Chapmans’ three lots, wrote the Chapmans a letter offering to purchase Lot 21 for $20,000 cash. The Chapmans stated that they had no immediate plans to do anything other than keep the lot vacant. After the Chap-mans expressed interest in selling Lot 21, Mr. Olbrich drew up an earnest money contract. Both parties signed this contract, and the Olbrichs deposited $1,000 as earnest money with the North American Title Company.

On May 3, 2002, the Olbrichs had a survey done on Lot 21 and on their own property. The survey revealed that the boundary line for Lot 21 went through the swimming pool on the Chapmans’ property. On May 5, 2002, Mr. Olbrich notified Mrs. Chapman of this discovery. Mr. Ol-brich testified that at this point Mrs. Chapman indicated that she intended to remove the swimming pool, which was overgrown with wisteria and lily pads, because it was an eyesore inhibiting the sale of the Chapmans’ house.

When Mrs. Chapman told Mr. Olbrich that it would be very expensive to remove the pool, he suggested that she remove the pool’s top coping, punch holes in its bottom to prevent buoyancy if rain water soaked into the ground, and fill the pool with dirt.1 Mrs. Chapman responded that she would deal with the pool but did not know how long it would take. Although the closing was set for May 25, Mr. Olbrich suggested they extend the closing date to give the Chapmans time to resolve the pool issue. Mr. Olbrich drew up an addendum (dated May 14, 2002) to the contract, extending the closing date to June 9, 2002.

On Friday, June 7, Mr. Olbrich approached Mrs. Chapman and suggested that they close that same afternoon. Mrs. Chapman responded that she needed more time to finish the pool project, to which Mr. Olbrich replied that she could have all the time she needed. Mr. Olbrich observed workers with backhoes and large equipment working on the pool until June [486]*48623, 2002, after which he saw nobody at the Chapmans’ house. Mr. Olbrich tried to call the Chapmans, but no one answered.

In the meantime, Mrs. Chapman contracted to sell all three lots to Jorge and Yuwandee Medrano. Mr. Medrano testified that he became familiar with the property in June 2002, when he visited a neighbor of the Chapmans. Mr. Medrano did not go into the Chapmans’ home, but he talked to Mrs. Chapman, who was outside mowing the yard. Mr. Medrano testified that Mrs. Chapman informed him she could not sell him the house until after July 1, 2002. On July 2, 2002, Mr. Medra-no returned with his wife to look at the property and thereafter entered into a contract to buy all three lots from the Chapmans.

On July 15, Mr. Olbrich spoke to Mrs. Chapman. Unaware of the Chapmans’ intention to sell the property to someone else, Mr. Olbrich inquired about the progress on the pool. Mrs. Chapman informed Mr. Olbrich that “[t]he contract is over” and that the Chapmans had contracted to sell the property to somebody else.

Mr. Olbrich immediately called his attorney and then wrote to the title company, stating that the Olbrichs intended to enforce their contract by specific performance:

Pursuant to the Contract of Sale between James and Patricia Chapman, the Sellers, and Doug and Eleanor Olbrich, the Buyers, for Lot 21, Block 8, Section 1, Timberlake Estates, Harris County, Texas, the Property, dated April 19, 2002, and Addendum No. 1, dated May 1, 2002, the Sellers have failed to comply with the contract as agreed and are in default.
As provided under Section 15, DEFAULT, (a) “the Buyer may enforce specific performance, seek such other relief as may be provided by law, or both”, [sic] Buyer intends to enforce specific performance of the contract and wishes to proceed with immediate closing.

The Olbrichs sent the Chapmans a copy of this letter.

The next day, July 16, 2002, the Olbrichs wrote the Chapmans, informing them that they were claiming specific performance and demanding an immediate closing, after which the Olbrichs would contract for the removal of the swimming pool “with reimbursement to [the Olbrichs] of associated expenses and any attorney fees.” The Ol-brichs offered to meet with the Chapmans for mediation within two days; after that time, the Olbrichs planned to file a lis pendens on the property.

The Olbrichs received no reply to the July 15 and 16 letters. On July 20, 2002, Mrs. Olbrich wrote Mrs. Chapman and offered to purchase Lot 21, reduced in size by 3,325 square feet so that the swimming pool would be entirely located on the Chapmans’ property, for the original $20,000 purchase price. The Chapmans failed to respond to the July 20 offer.

On July 22, 2002, the Olbrichs sued the Chapmans for breach of contract, seeking specific performance and attorney’s fees. In their petition, the Olbrichs stated that they “here [sic] tender their performance and undertake to do such things and pay such amounts as required by the contract, the law, and the orders of this Court. They offer to do equity.” On July 26, 2002, the Olbrichs filed a notice of lis pendens on the property.

The Chapmans filed a counterclaim in which they sought a declaratory judgment that the contract was terminated or expired on or before June 9, 2002. They also sought attorney’s fees.

The Chapmans and the Medranos closed on the sale of the Chapmans’ property on [487]*487August 8 or 9, 2002.2 At the time of trial, the Medranos still owned, and were living on, the property they purchased from the Chapmans.

The jury found that the Chapmans had failed to comply with their agreement to sell Lot 21 to the Olbrichs and that their failure to comply was not excused. The jury awarded attorney’s fees totaling $55,000 for trial and appeals.

In its final judgment, the trial court awarded the Olbrichs specific performance and ordered that Lot 21 be vested in the Olbrichs and “divested from any person claiming the same since July 1, 2002, including the Defendants, James and Patricia Chapman, and their purchasers of Lot 21 ... Jorge S. and Yuwadee S. Medrano.” The trial court also ordered the Chapmans to sign a release of escrow to North American Title Company in favor of the Ol-brichs for release of their $1,000 earnest money.

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Bluebook (online)
217 S.W.3d 482, 2006 WL 1765934, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chapman-v-olbrich-texapp-2007.