Dennis K. White v. Luis Calvache and Wife, Norma Calvache, Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC, Horne & Associates, P.C., and L. Scott Horne, as Substitute Trustee

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJanuary 24, 2018
Docket05-17-00127-CV
StatusPublished

This text of Dennis K. White v. Luis Calvache and Wife, Norma Calvache, Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC, Horne & Associates, P.C., and L. Scott Horne, as Substitute Trustee (Dennis K. White v. Luis Calvache and Wife, Norma Calvache, Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC, Horne & Associates, P.C., and L. Scott Horne, as Substitute Trustee) 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.

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Dennis K. White v. Luis Calvache and Wife, Norma Calvache, Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC, Horne & Associates, P.C., and L. Scott Horne, as Substitute Trustee, (Tex. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

AFFIRM; and Opinion Filed January 24, 2018.

In The Court of Appeals Fifth District of Texas at Dallas No. 05-17-00127-CV

DENNIS K. WHITE, Appellant V. LUIS CALVACHE AND NORMA CALVACHE, Appellees

On Appeal from the 199th Judicial District Court Collin County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. 199-00016-2016

MEMORANDUM OPINION Before Justices Lang-Miers, Fillmore, and Stoddart Opinion by Justice Fillmore Appellees Luis and Norma Calvache agreed to sell a house to Dennis K. White in exchange

for a cash payment and White’s assumption of the payments on two existing loans on the property.

As part of the transaction, White signed a Deed of Trust to Secure Assumption (DOTSA) for each

existing loan. The DOTSAs provided that appellees had a right to foreclose on the property if

White failed to make all payments required by the existing loans.

Appellees subsequently notified White that he was in default under the terms of one of the

loans, and they intended to sell the property at a foreclosure sale. White filed this lawsuit, seeking

damages and a temporary injunction to prevent the foreclosure sale. The trial court did not rule on

White’s request for injunctive relief, and the property was sold at a foreclosure sale. The trial court

subsequently granted appellees’ motion for traditional and no-evidence summary judgment, and dismissed White’s remaining claims. White, appearing pro se in this appeal, contends the trial

court erred by failing to rule on his request for injunctive relief and by granting summary judgment

in favor of appellees. We affirm the trial court’s judgment.

Background

On July 9, 2011, appellees agreed to sell to Kristin Gerst a house located at 700 Riverhead

in Wylie, Texas, for consideration in the amount of $170,825.77, consisting of $3,500 cash and

assumption of the payments on two existing loans on the property. Attached to the contract was a

Loan Assumption Addendum that stated the unpaid balance on the first loan was $133,490.13, the

monthly payment of principal and interest on the first loan was $1,002.98, the unpaid balance on

the second loan was $33,835.64, and the monthly payment of principal and interest on the second

loan was $306.89.

Gerst assigned the contract to purchase the house to White in exchange for $1,500. The

Assignment of Contract for Purchase and Sale signed by White sets out the approximate balance

of each loan, as well as the interest rate, the monthly payment for “PI,” and the term on each loan.

At the closing on July 30, 2011, White signed a number of documents acknowledging he was

purchasing the property subject to the existing loans. The closing documents provided White

information about the term of each loan, and the amount of the required monthly payment on each

loan. White acknowledged the monthly payments included only principal and interest, and that he

was required to pay separately for insurance and taxes assessed on the property. White signed a

DOTSA for each loan, giving appellees the right to foreclose on the property if White failed to

make payments required by each loan.

White agreed to pay appellees the amount of the loan payments each month, and appellees

agreed to use that money to make the payments on the loans. Immediately after the closing, White

and appellees had a dispute over who was required to make the August 2011 loan payments. The

–2– parties had additional disputes over the next few years regarding payments on the loans, as well as

payments for insurance and taxes assessed on the property. In November 2015, appellees notified

White that they intended to foreclose on the property. White then filed this lawsuit against

appellees; Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC;1 Horne & Associates, P.C., the law firm that prepared

documents relating to the sale of the property; and L. Scott Horne, an attorney with Horne &

Associates,2 seeking to recover damages, and requesting a declaration the DOTSAs were void.

White also sought a temporary injunction to prevent appellees from foreclosing on the property.

The trial court held a hearing on White’s request for injunctive relief on February 1, 2016.

Following the hearing, the parties filed briefs with the trial court on the issue of whether a new

promissory note was required when a purchaser of real property assumes existing loans. Appellees

subsequently provided White with information regarding payments made on the two loans and

additional charges and fees imposed by Ocwen.

On February 5, 2016, Tina Hill, an attorney with Horne & Associates, sent three letters to

White on behalf of appellees. In the first letter, Hill demanded that White obtain homeowner’s

insurance on the property by February 15, 2016, and informed White that his failure to do so would

constitute a default on the first loan. In the second letter, Hill notified White that he was in default

on the first loan due to his failure to maintain “proper and current insurance” on the property. Hill

indicated that, if White did not provide proof of homeowner’s insurance by February 25, 2016, the

loan would be accelerated. She further stated that if “the past due installments” were not paid by

February 25, 2016, foreclosure proceedings would be instituted. Finally, in the third letter, Hill

stated White was in default on the first loan by (1) failing to pay the required installments of

1 Ocwen was the servicer of one of the loans on the property. The trial court granted Ocwen’s motion for summary judgment, and White has not appealed that ruling. 2 White dismissed his claims against Horne & Associates, P.C. and Horne.

–3– principal and interest on the loan, taxes assessed on the property, and charges and late fees; (2)

failing to maintain insurance on the property; and (3) allowing a “tax lien loan” to be placed on

the property.3 Hill demanded that White pay $27,990.68 to cure the default.4 Hill informed White

that if he did not pay that amount by February 25, 2016, the entire balance of the loan would be

accelerated and foreclosure proceedings would be instituted.

On March 15, 2016, Horne sent White a notice of acceleration of the first loan on the

property. Horne informed White that, due to his failure to cure the default, all unpaid principal

and accrued interest on the first loan was immediately due, and that, as of March 14, 2016, the

approximate principal amount due on the first loan was $135,391.95. Also on March 15, 2016,

Horne notified White that appellees had requested the property be posted for foreclosure, and the

property would be sold on April 5, 2016.5 White contends appellees purchased the property at the

foreclosure sale.

As relevant to this appeal, White filed a second amended petition seeking a declaratory

judgment that the substitute trustee’s deed executed after the foreclosure sale and the DOTSAs

were void, seeking an accounting of all payments made on the loans and a refund of escrow account

proceeds, and asserting claims based on common law fraud and misrepresentation, statutory fraud,

breach of contract, and the filing of false liens in violation of chapter 12 of the civil practice and

remedies code.6 White filed a motion for traditional summary judgment, and appellees filed a

combined traditional and no-evidence motion for summary judgment. The trial court granted

3 Although the record is not clear as to the exact date of the loan, White borrowed money from Tax Loans USA to pay taxes assessed on the property.

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Dennis K. White v. Luis Calvache and Wife, Norma Calvache, Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC, Horne & Associates, P.C., and L. Scott Horne, as Substitute Trustee, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dennis-k-white-v-luis-calvache-and-wife-norma-calvache-ocwen-loan-texapp-2018.