FEDERAL S. & L. INS. CORP. v. Kennedy

732 S.W.2d 1
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 30, 1986
Docket01-86-0472-CV
StatusPublished

This text of 732 S.W.2d 1 (FEDERAL S. & L. INS. CORP. v. Kennedy) 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
FEDERAL S. & L. INS. CORP. v. Kennedy, 732 S.W.2d 1 (Tex. Ct. App. 1986).

Opinion

732 S.W.2d 1 (1986)

FEDERAL SAVINGS AND LOAN INSURANCE CORP., Receiver for Mainland Savings Association, Appellant,
v.
Don M. KENNEDY, Appellee.

No. 01-86-0472-CV.

Court of Appeals of Texas, Houston (1st Dist.).

December 30, 1986.
Rehearing Denied June 18, 1987.

*2 Taylor M. Hicks, J. Scott Carothers, Houston (O. Clayton Lilienstern, Andrews & Kurth, Houston, Harry W. Quillian, Acting Gen. Counsel, Paul W. Grace, David G. Eisenstein, Office of General Counsel Federal Home Loan Bank Board, Washington, D.C., of counsel), for appellant.

Dana G. Kirk, Kyle R. Sears, Kirk & Carrigan, Houston, for appellee.

Before EVANS, C.J., and JACK SMITH and WARREN, JJ.

OPINION

JACK SMITH, Justice.

The threshold question in this case is whether the appointment of Federal Savings & Loan Insurance Corporation (FSLIC) as receiver for the defendant, Mainland Savings Association, after the entry of judgment against Mainland Savings but during the period while the trial court still retained plenary control over the case, gave FSLIC the exclusive power and authority to readjudicate the issues determined by the judgment. We hold that the trial court's judgment was final in the sense that it was enforceable as a legal determination of the parties' rights, and that FSLIC has the same but no greater right than Mainland Savings to challenge the judgment on this appeal.

Don M. Kennedy brought this action against Mainland Savings in December 1985, to recover a $2 million certificate of deposit, which he had pledged as collateral in a real estate transaction with Mainland Savings. Kennedy asserted that Mainland Savings had breached its agreement to provide construction and permanent financing for the transaction and that it had wrongfully refused to return his $2 million deposit. Among other theories of recovery, Kennedy alleged breach of contract, conversion, fraud, and violation of the Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

The case was tried on its merits in March 1986, and a jury found in Kennedy's favor on special issues submitted on his theories of conversion, breach of contract, and deceptive trade practices. The parties stipulated the amount of actual and exemplary damages, which were to follow such issues. On March 12, 1986, the court entered judgment on the verdict, awarding Kennedy *3 $2,200,000 as actual damages and $100,000 as exemplary damages, plus $80,000 as attorney's fees. The judgment further specified that the $2 million certificate of deposit in the court's registry would be disbursed to Kennedy, together with accrued interest, in partial satisfaction of the judgment.

On April 4, 1986, FSLIC was appointed receiver for Mainland Savings. Shortly thereafter, Mainland Savings filed a plea of intervention, a motion for new trial, and a motion for judgment n.o.v. in this case, which the trial court denied. The court also denied Mainland Savings' motions to set aside the judgment and the court's orders relating to its enforcement. FSLIC also filed a petition for removal to federal district court, which was later remanded.

In its first two points of error, FSLIC contends that when it was appointed receiver for Mainland Savings, it acquired the exclusive power and authority to adjudicate all assets or claims against Mainland Savings, and that it also had the right to readjudicate Kennedy's claim with respect to the $2 million certificate of deposit. In support of this contention, FSLIC relies upon 12 U.S.C. secs. 1464(d)(6)(C), 1729(d) (1984), and cites numerous cases holding that the courts are prohibited from adjudicating claims pending at the time of its appointment as receiver. See North Mississippi Savings & Loan Association v. Hudspeth, 756 F.2d 1096, 1103 (5th Cir. 1985).

We recognize the general proposition enunciated in Hudspeth, that the courts may not adjudicate claims that were not finally decided before FSLIC was appointed receiver. But neither Hudspeth, nor any of the other authorities cited by FSLIC, support FSLIC's contention that it has the power to readjudicate claims, after those claims have been determined by a court's final judgment.

In this case, the trial court entered a final judgment on the jury's verdict, which determined that Kennedy was entitled to the $2 million certificate of deposit, and that Kennedy had been damaged in the stipulated amounts because of Mainland Savings' wrongful conversion of that certificate. The judgment fully adjudicated all issues in the case, and expressly provided that all relief not expressly therein granted was denied.

At the time FSLIC was appointed receiver for Mainland Savings, the court's judgment was final "for the purposes of issue and claim preclusion," notwithstanding that the judgment was yet appealable and subject to modification or vacation by the trial court. See Scurlock Oil Co. v. Smithwick, 724 S.W.2d 1, 30 Tex.Sup.Ct.J. 74, 78 (1986) (overruling Texas Trunk Railroad Co. v. Jackson, 85 Tex. 605, 22 S.W. 1030, 1031 (1893)). As long as the judgment continues in effect, the issues determined therein may not be relitigated. Martin v. Phillips Petroleum Co., 455 S.W.2d 429, 437 (Tex.Civ.App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 1970, no writ). If the judgment is ultimately affirmed, affirmance neither alters the parties' rights, nor affects their application from the time they were determined by the trial court. Horlock v. Horlock, 593 S.W.2d 743, 745 (Tex.Civ.App.- Houston [1st Dist.] 1979, writ ref'd n.r.e.).

We, accordingly, hold that when FSLIC was appointed receiver, it did not have the right to relitigate Kennedy's claim and that it simply stepped into the shoes of Mainland Savings, having the same but no greater rights than Mainland to challenge the court's final judgment. See Tosco Corp. v. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., 723 F.2d 1242, 1247 (6th Cir.1983). In reaching this holding, we reject FSLIC's argument that this decision will unnecessarily hamper its receivership functions in reorganizing, operating, or dissolving Mainland Savings.

We overrule the first two points of error.

In its third point of error, FSLIC contends that the trial court erred in submitting special issues 4, 5, and 6, in that there was no evidence of an enforceable contract to provide construction and permanent financing. The appellant's failure to file a timely objection to the submission of special issues 4, 5, and 6 precludes review of the submission. Hall v. Rogers, 620 *4 S.W.2d 217, 220 (Tex.App.-Waco 1981, no writ). While the appellant stated that it had already made evidentiary objections on all of the contract claims, this was not sufficient to preserve error. An objection to a charge must be made distinctly and specifically. Id. at 220.

In its fourth point of error, the appellant argues that the trial court erred in entering judgment in favor of the appellee in that there was insufficient evidence to support the jury findings of an enforceable contract.

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Federal Savings & Loan Insurance Corp. v. Kennedy
732 S.W.2d 1 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1986)

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732 S.W.2d 1, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/federal-s-l-ins-corp-v-kennedy-texapp-1986.