Fears v. Texas Bank

247 S.W.3d 729, 2008 WL 313103
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 18, 2008
Docket06-07-00080-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 247 S.W.3d 729 (Fears v. Texas Bank) 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
Fears v. Texas Bank, 247 S.W.3d 729, 2008 WL 313103 (Tex. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

OPINION

Opinion by

Justice CARTER.

Tommy and Wanda Fears borrowed money from the Texas Bank and failed to make the payments in a timely manner. Tommy’s parents, Homer and Louise Fears, conveyed fifty acres of their property to the Bank to avoid foreclosure or other legal consequences to Tommy. The Bank gave Homer and Louise written assurance that it would return their property on payment of the note. The note was never satisfied and the Bank was preparing to sell the fifty acres when Homer and Louise, joined by their other son, Terry, and his wife, Teresa, sued the Bank alleging they had been coerced and were under duress when they executed the deed; they requested the trial court to find the conveyance void.

*732 Tommy also conveyed a twenty-acre tract to the Bank which Homer and Louise had previously conveyed to him. Homer and Louise claim their deed to Tommy violated the statute of frauds and was void. 1 Ultimately, the Bank filed summary judgment motions which the trial court granted finding the Bank was the owner of both tracts. The Fearses 2 appeal from a summary judgment taken in favor of the Bank, and Tommy and Wanda Fears. 3

In a pleading which the Bank entitles as a cross-action, but which appears to be a classic counterclaim, 4 the Bank claimed that the Fearses’ lawsuit had clouded its title to the property and requested a declaratory judgment establishing its title to the fifty- and twenty-acre tracts.

The Bank filed its initial motion for summary judgment in June 2005. The motion is a traditional one alleging there was no genuine issue of material fact. It contains a lengthy exposition of the course of events leading up to the foreclosure and is supported by an affidavit by the president of the Bank. The Fearses filed a response August 17, 2005.

In February 2006, the Bank then filed a supplemental motion for summary judgment (a no-evidence motion against the claims of duress) and the Fearses filed a supplemental response February 6, 2006. A hearing on the motion was conducted February 23; the trial court advised the attorneys by letter dated February 27 that the Bank’s motions for summary judgment were granted.

On February 28, the Fearses filed a supplemental complaint which, on March 2, the Bank filed a motion to strike. 5 The trial court granted summary judgment by order signed April 6, 2006. That summary judgment was not then final, as it did not dispose of the cross-action. The cross-action was disposed of by a later judgment signed February 8, 2007, and this appeal followed in due course.

I. Contentions of the Fearses

On appeal, the Fearses complain that the summary judgment regarding the property was erroneous. First, the Fears-es argue there was some evidence this was a sham transaction which should be set aside; that the fifty-acre tract was a home *733 stead and it could not be foreclosed on for a non-purchase-money lien. The Fearses argue their deed to the Bank was nothing more than an artful way to avoid the homestead provisions of the Texas Constitution — and they only agreed to this procedure because the Bank threatened to have their son jailed should they refuse.

Second, the Fearses assert that there was some evidence the deed was obtained by fraud and extortion by the Bank and that there was some evidence no consideration was received for the transfer.

In their third point, the Fearses argue the trial court erred by refusing to grant their motion for summary judgment asking the court to set aside the 1995 deed to Tommy because it did not meet the requirements of the statute of frauds — because it did not adequately identify the property being transferred.

In a fourth point, the Fearses argue that the court erred by granting summary judgment on attorney’s fees because they contested the amount in their response to the summary judgment motion and because the summary judgment against them was improperly rendered.

II. The Bank’s Response

The Bank addresses the Fearses’ first argument as complaining the court erred because there was an issue about whether the property was a homestead, and submits that the issue was not preserved because that matter was not alleged until the Fearses’ first supplemental complaint, filed after the summary judgment hearing.

The Bank contends that “fraud and extortion,” as now argued by the Fearses, was not before the trial court — the only tort claims were duress and coercion, which were before the court and properly subject to the Bank’s no-evidence summary judgment motion. It also argues there was no evidence to controvert its allegations that credit was given to the notes of Tommy and Wanda as consideration for the transfer of the property.

The Bank argues the deed of the twenty-acre tract sufficiently describes the property to meet the requirements of the statute of frauds.

Finally, the Bank argues there is no summary judgment evidence to controvert its claims for attorney’s fees — only legal conclusions that those fees were excessive.

III. Discussion

A. Standard of Review

When reviewing a summary judgment, we take as true all evidence favorable to the nonmovant and indulge every reasonable inference and resolve any doubts in the nonmovant’s favor. Limestone Prods. Distrib., Inc. v. McNamara, 71 S.W.3d 308, 311 (Tex.2002); Rhone-Poulenc, Inc. v. Steel, 997 S.W.2d 217, 223 (Tex.1999). On appeal, the movant must show that there is no material fact issue and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. McNamara, 71 S.W.3d at 311; Steel, 997 S.W.2d at 223.

B. Homestead

The Bank correctly states that the homestead defense now advocated by the Fearses was not presented to the trial court by pleading or by summary judgment response. No pleading raising the homestead issue was filed until after the trial court had conducted a hearing on the motions for summary judgment and advised the attorneys in writing of its decision. There is no showing that the trial court was ever presented with or considered this argument. Having not timely presented the issue to the trial court, it cannot now be considered.

C. Duress, Coercion, and Fraud

*734

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
247 S.W.3d 729, 2008 WL 313103, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fears-v-texas-bank-texapp-2008.