Donnell Hill v. Wells Asset

Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided November 11, 2015·No. 05-15-00096-CV·Published

Opinion

ACCEPTED

05-15-00096-CV

FIFTH COURT OF APPEALS

DALLAS, TEXAS

11/11/2015 11:31:20 AM

LISA MATZ

CLERK

CAUSE NO. 05-15-00096-CV

FIFTH DISTRICT COURT OF APPEALS FILED IN 5th COURT OF APPEALS

DALLAS COUNTY, TEXAS DALLAS, TEXAS 11/11/2015 11:31:20 AM

LISA MATZ

Clerk

DONNELL HILL,

APPELLANT,

v.

WELLS ASSET MANAGEMENT, INC. AND LA PRADA PLACE APARTMENTS,

APPELLEES.

APPELLEES' BRIEF

ISRAEL SUSTER

STATE BAR NO. 19523580

THE SUSTER LAW GROUP, PLLC 1316 VILLAGE CREEK DR., STE. 500 PLANO, TEXAS 75093-4461

TELEPHONE: 972-380-0130 FACSIMILE: 972-380-4517 israel@susterlaw.com

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEES

IDENTITY OF PARTIES AND COUNSEL

Pursuant to Rule 38.2(a) of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, counsel for Appellees, Wells Asset Management, Inc. and La Prada Place Apartments, hereby adopt and supplement Appellees' Identity of Parties and Counsel with the following supplement to Appellees' counsel:

Trial Counsel for Appellees Wells Asset Management, Inc. and La Prada Place Apartments

Represented by:

Carlisle A. Braun The Suster Law Group, PLLC 1316 Village Creek Drive, Suite 500 Plano, Texas 75093-4461 (972) 380-0130 Telephone (972) 380-4517 Facsimile

Appellate Counsel for Appellees Wells Asset Management, Inc. and La Prada Place Apartments

Represented by:

Israel Suster The Suster Law Group, PLLC 1316 Village Creek Drive, Suite 500 Plano, Texas 75093-4461 (972) 380-0130 Telephone (972) 380-4517 Facsimile

)1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

IDENTITIES OF PARTIES AND COUNSEL. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS iii INDEX OF AUTHORITIES iv RESPONSE TO ISSUES PRESENTED I

1. Appellees do not dispute that Hill may challenge the legal sufficiency of a grant of summary judgment in this appeal. But any such challenge by Hill simply fails because Hill did not respond to a no-evidence motion for summary judgment and raised no issue of fact to prevent the trial court from granting Appellees' sununary judgment motion.

2. Appellees' no-evidence motion for summary judgment was legally sufficient because it negated elements of Hill's claims necessary to prevail on a suit for malicious prosecution. As such, the Court need not address the factual legal sufficiency of Appellees' traditional motion for summary judgment.

STATEMENT OF FACTS 2 SUMMARY OF THE ARGUMENT 3 STANDARD OF REVIEW 4 ARGUMENT 5 PRAYER 9 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 10 APPENDIX 11

III

INDEX OF AUTHORITIES

CASES PAGE

Barnes v. SWS Financial Servs., Inc., 97 S.W.3d 759 n. 3 (Tex. App.-Dallas 2003, no pet.) 7,8

Black v. Victoria Lloyds Ins. Co., 797 S.W.2d 20, 27 (Tex. 1990) 7

Crocker v. Paulyne's Nursing Home, Inc., 95 S.W.3d 419-420 (Tex. App.-Dallas 2002, no pet.) 7, 8

Henning v. One~VestBank FSB, 405 S.W.3d 950, 962 (Tex. App.-Dallas 2013, no pet.) 4, 6, 8

Jackson v. Am. Home Mortg. Servicing, Inc., No. 05-12-01596-CV, 2014 WL 3817085, at * 2 (Tex. App.-Dallas Aug. 4, 2014, no pet.) 6

Luce v. Interstate Adjusters, Inc., 26 S.W.3d 561,565 (Tex. App.-Dallas 2000, no pet.) 8

Puricelli v. Saxon Mortg. Serv., Inc., No. 05-13-00207-CV, 2014 WL 3735284, at * 3 (Tex. App.-Dallas July 28, 2014, pet. denied) 5, 8

Timpte Indus. Inc. v. Gish., 286 S.W.3d 306, 310 (Tex 2009) 5

RULES AND STATUTES PAGE TEX. R. Cry. P. 166a(i) 5,6, 8

IV

RESPONSE TO ISSUES PRESENTED

1. Appellees do not dispute that Hill may challenge the legal sufficiency of a grant of summary judgment in this appeal. But any such challenge by Hill simply fails because Hill did not respond to a no-evidence motion for summary judgment and raised no issue of fact to prevent the trial court from granting Appellees' summaryjudgment motion.

2. Appellees' no-evidence motion for summary judgment was legally sufficient because it negated elements of Hill's claims necessary to prevail on a suit for malicious prosecution. As such, the Court need not address the factual legal sufficiency of Appellees' traditional motion for summary judgment.

PAGE 1

STATEMENT OF FACTS

Appellant Donnell Hill ("Hill") is a former tenant of Appellee La Prada Place Apartments ("La Prada"). (Appellant's Br. 6). On August 1, 2013, La Prada filed Plaintiffs First Amended Petition for Forcible Detainer in Cause No. CC- 1304361-B, styled La Prada Place Apartments v. Donnell Hill and All Occupants, then pending in the County Court at Law No.2, Dallas County, Texas. (CR 7). Hill prevailed against La Prada in such eviction appeal and was not evicted from La Prada Place Apartments. (Appellant's Br. 6).

On March 5, 2014, Hill filed suit against Appellees in connection with La Prada's lawsuit to evict Hill for nonpayment of rent. (CR 6). Among other things, Hill alleged that Appellees engaged in malicious and fraudulent conduct in connection with La Prada's eviction lawsuit. (CR 7).

On August 1, 2014, Appellee Wells Asset Management, Inc. ("Wells")

served Hill with Defendant Wells Asset Management, Inc. 's First Set of Disco very Requests to Plaintiff. (CR 53-80). At first, Hill refused to respond to such discovery requests. (CR 53). Eventually, Hill produced a few documents, but Hill did not answer Wells' interrogatories and admission requests. (CR 53). As a result of Hill's failure to respond to Wells' admission requests, the following facts were deemed admitted: (1) Wells did not execute a lease agreement with Hill; (2) Wells did not file an eviction against Hill; (3) Wells was not Hill's landlord; (4) Hill was

PAGE 2

not evicted from La Prada Place Apartments; and, (5) Hill did not sustain any damages as a result of Wells' conduct. (CR 44-45). Hill did not challenge the deeming of any admissions.

On September 11, 2014, Appellees filed their Defendants' Evidentiary and No-Evidence Motions for Summary Judgment Against Plaintiff in the trial court. (CR 42-80). Among other things, Appellees moved for a summary judgment on the basis that "[t]here is no evidence that [Hill] suffered any damages as a result of [Appellees'] actions," "[t'[here is no evidence that [Appellees] made any representations to [Hill]" and "[tjhere [was] no evidence that [Appellees] engaged in any malicious conduct." (CR 47-48). Hill did not file a response to Appellees' motions. (CR 82; Appellant's Br. 6). On October 17,2014,the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Appellees and entered its Order Granting Defendants' Evidential}! and No-Evidence Motionsfor Summary Judgment Against Plaintiff (CR 82-83).

SUMMARY OF THE ARGUMENT

While Hill may appeal the legal sufficiency of a motion for summary judgment for the first time on appeal, the trial court properly granted Appellees' no-evidence motion for summary judgment because Hill did not respond and raise any issues of fact to challenge the motion.

PAGE 3

To the extent Hill complains about the legal sufficiency of the no-evidence motion, such motion was legally sufficient to negate any action for malicious

prosecution because such motion challenged any evidence of malicious conduct

1

and damages. Without any evidence of such elements, the trial court properly

granted summary judgment. To the extent that Hill complains of the legal insufficiency of the evidence brought in Appellees' traditional motion for summary judgment, the Court need not address because of the proper grant of Appellees' no- evidence motion. Finally, to the extent Hill has any other issues with regard to the granting of summary judgment, Hill has waived any right to complain because he did not make any objections to the summary judgment motion before the trial court and raises no such other objections in his Brief.

The Court should affirm the trial court's judgment and render a judgment in favor of Appellees for their appellate attorneys' fees in the amount of $10,000.00.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

The standard of review for a trial court's summary judgment is de novo.

Henning v. OneWest Bank FSB, 405 S.W.3d 950, 956 (Tex. App.-Dallas 2013, no pet.). In the absence of a response to a motion for summary judgment, the only issue that may be raised on appeal is whether the motion for summary judgment is sufficient as a matter of law. Id. at 957. A no-evidence motion for summary

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Related

Timpte Industries, Inc. v. Gish
286 S.W.3d 306 (Texas Supreme Court, 2009)
Luce v. Interstate Adjusters, Inc.
26 S.W.3d 561 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2000)
Barnes v. SWS Financial Services, Inc.
97 S.W.3d 759 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2003)
Crocker v. Paulyne's Nursing Home, Inc.
95 S.W.3d 416 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2003)
Black v. Victoria Lloyds Insurance Co.
797 S.W.2d 20 (Texas Supreme Court, 1990)
Henning, Kenneth v. OneWest Bank FSB
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