Fandel, Inc. v. First of Denver Mortgage Investors

522 S.W.2d 721, 1975 Tex. App. LEXIS 2435
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 3, 1975
Docket18583
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 522 S.W.2d 721 (Fandel, Inc. v. First of Denver Mortgage Investors) 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
Fandel, Inc. v. First of Denver Mortgage Investors, 522 S.W.2d 721, 1975 Tex. App. LEXIS 2435 (Tex. Ct. App. 1975).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION ON MOTION TO AMEND ORDER

PER CURIAM.

On January 6, 1975, we heard and considered petition for injunctive relief filed by appellants Fandel, Inc., a Texas corporation and Leonard A. Renfrow, in which appellants sought a temporary injunction preventing appellees First of Denver Mortgage Investors, and/or Eldon L. Young-blood, Trustee, from conducting a sale of realty on January 7, 1975, pursuant to authority of a deed of trust. After due consideration of the motion we granted same and entered an order providing:

It is therefore ordered, adjudged and decreed that appellees First of Denver Mortgage Investors and Eldon L. Youngblood, Trustee, be andftthe same are hereby enjoined and restrained from conducting the foreclosure sale of the real property described in Plaintiff’s Original Petition in Cause No. 74-8399-J/A in the 14th District Court of Dallas County, Texas, pending final determination of the appeal of this cause in this Court.

Thereafter, Eldon L. Youngblood, Trustee, posted notices pursuant to the terms of the deed of trust in which it was announced that sale pursuant to the deed of trust would be conducted on Tuesday, February 4, 1975, such date being prior to the time this court has set this case for oral argument on the merits of the appeal. In a hearing before this court on a motion to hold appellant Youngblood, Trustee, in contempt for violating the court’s order of January 6, 1975, the said appellant Young-blood contended that since the court’s prior order did not specifically enjoin him, as Trustee, from posting notices that he was not in contempt of such order by his action in posting same. At the same time appellant Youngblood, Trustee, announced in open court that he had no intention of violating the court’s order concerning sale of the property and that he would not sell the same pursuant to the terms of the deed of trust prior to the time this court rendered its decision on the appeal now pending.

Appellants Fandel, Inc. and Leonard A. Renfrow now file their motion asking us to enlarge our order of January 6, 1975, so as to expressly prohibit appellees from posting notices or taking any other steps which might constitute a part of the sale of the property under the terms of the deed of trust. We sustain this motion to enlarge our order for the following reasons.

(1) The act on the part of the Trustee in posting notices for the required number of days prior to sale on the first Tuesday of any month is, in our opinion, a necessary and integral part of the sale itself. Without the giving of notice as required *723 by the deed of trust, such sale eventually made would be invalid.

(2) The existence of an injunction restraining the sale at the time of posting notice would cast doubt upon the validity of the entire process and thereby invite an attack on the sale, even though the injunction may be dissolved before the sale is made.

(3) The existence of an injunction restraining the sale at the time of posting notices would be likely to cause prospective purchasers to refrain from bidding upon the property and thereby stifle open and competitive bidding as contemplated by law.

(4) Notice of sale prior to final resolution of the question of the validity of the sale by this court could possible result in confusion and disturbance of the orderly processes of motions for rehearing, applications for writs of error, etc.

It is therefore ordered, adjudged and decreed that the order of this court made on January 6, 1975, be and the same is hereby amended, as follows:

Appellees First of Denver Mortgage Investors and Eldon L. Youngblood, Trustee, be and the same are hereby enjoined and restrained from conducting the foreclosure sale of the real property described in plaintiff’s original petition in cause no. 74-8399-J/A in the 14th District Court of Dallas County, Texas, and are further restrained from taking any steps whatsoever, including the posting of notices of sale, giving notice to any parties herein or third parties of any such proposed sale, or taking any further action which might in any manner be construed as a step in the direction of a sale pursuant to the deed of trust in question, pending final determination of the appeal of this cause in this court.

GUITTARD, Justice.

This appeal is from an order denying a temporary injunction. The vendor of approximately twenty acres of land, and a corporation to which he later conveyed the land, sought restraint of a trustee’s sale under a deed of trust given by the original purchaser to secure a loan. Plaintiffs allege that the deed-of-trust lien was extinguished by voluntary rescission of the original sale, and, therefore, that the deed of trust is a cloud on their title. Plaintiffs also seek to avoid an agreement subordinating the vendor’s lien to the deed of trust. We hold that the trial judge did not abuse his discretion in denying the temporary injunction because plaintiffs have not established grounds for avoiding the subordination agreement, and, consequently, they have failed to show a probable right to final injunctive relief.

The material facts are undisputed. The land formerly belonged to plaintiff Leonard Renfrow. On August 4, 1971, he conveyed it to defendant Modular Communities, Inc. by a deed reserving a vendor’s lien to secure a promissory note in the amount of two hundred thousand dollars. This note was also secured by a deed of trust. On September 19, 1972, Renfrow and Fannin National Bank, to which he had pledged the note, signed an agreement purporting to subordinate the lien evidenced by his deed of trust to another deed of trust to be executed by Modular Communities for the benefit of defendant First of Denver Mortgage Investors. Thereafter, on October 19, 1972, First of Denver and Modular Communities entered into an agreement for a loan to Modular Communities of not more than three hundred fifty thousand dollars, covering an earlier unsecured advance of forty-five thousand dollars and further advances to be made for construction of a mobile-home park on the property in question. Pursuant to this agreement, Modular Communities executed a deed of trust to defendant Eldon Young- *724 blood as trustee securing a note for three hundred fifty thousand dollars payable to First of Denver. In addition to the forty-five thousand dollars previously advanced, First of Denver made further disbursements in favor of Modular Communities, which brought the total of the advancements secured by its deed of trust to approximately ninety-five thousand dollars.

This controversy arises as a result of default by Modular Communities in its indebtedness to both Renfrow and First of Denver. The transaction which plaintiffs allege to be a rescission is evidenced by a deed dated January 22, 1974, by which Modular Communities reconveyed the land to Renfrow.

After accepting this deed, Renfrow conveyed the land by general warranty deed to plaintiff Fandel, Inc., of which Renfrow was president. This deed recites consideration of ten dollars and certain shares of stock in Fandel.

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Bluebook (online)
522 S.W.2d 721, 1975 Tex. App. LEXIS 2435, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fandel-inc-v-first-of-denver-mortgage-investors-texapp-1975.