Foreman v. Graham

693 S.W.2d 774, 1985 Tex. App. LEXIS 6909
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 11, 1985
Docket2-84-268-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 693 S.W.2d 774 (Foreman v. Graham) 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
Foreman v. Graham, 693 S.W.2d 774, 1985 Tex. App. LEXIS 6909 (Tex. Ct. App. 1985).

Opinion

OPINION

BURDOCK, Justice.

Appellant, Teddy M. Foreman, appeals from the trial court’s judgment in a suit in interpleader awarding the escrow funds in dispute to appellees, Dr. Gerald M. Graham and Donna Lee Graham.

We affirm.

Appellant agreed to purchase a tract of land from the Grahams in 1982. Due to various changes in the contract terms requested by the parties, two earnest money contracts were drawn up although only one, with all the agreed modifications, was signed by both the buyer and the sellers. 1 The contract was to close on or before April 20, 1982, or within seven days after any title objections were cured. Earnest money in the amount of $5000, paid by appellant, was placed in escrow with Service Title Company. Cunningham Real Estate, Inc. was the real estate broker for this transaction.

Appellant intended to set this transaction up as a “Starker” exchange. To facilitate a tax-free transfer of the property, a Starker exchange, appellant wanted to assign the contract to a third party. The dispute arose over whether appellant would still be required by the sellers to sign the purchase money note, even though the earnest money contract would be assigned to a third party. Due to this dispute, the closing did not take place and both the buyer and the sellers, claiming the other had breached the contract, demanded the escrow funds.

Service Title then filed this suit in inter-pleader and deposited the $5000 in the registry of the court. The trial court awarded the escrow funds to the Grahams and ordered appellant to pay attorney’s fees for Service Title and the Grahams, as well as court costs.

Appellant presents eight points of error on appeal which can be summarized as follows:

(1) the trial court erred in rendering judgment for appellees because they failed to prove that the contract satisfied the Statute of Frauds;
(2) the trial court erred in rendering judgment for appellees because they were not able to provide good title to the property;
(3) the contract was initially breached by appellees;
(4) the contract never became binding because a condition precedent to that contract was never satisfied;
(5 & 6) the stakeholder is not entitled to attorney’s fees because it was not a disinterested party;
(7) under the contract, appellant is a “prevailing party” entitled to attorney’s fees;
(8) the trial court’s failure to grant appellant’s motion for post judgment relief prevented appellant from obtaining findings of fact and conclusions of law from the trial court.

We will first address point of error eight in which appellant complains that the trial court’s failure to grant his motion for post *777 judgment relief prevented him from obtaining findings of fact and conclusions of law.

Pursuant to TEX.R.CIV.P. 296, a request for findings of fact and conclusions of law must be filed within ten days after the final judgment is signed. The trial court then has thirty days from the date the judgment is signed to file the findings of fact and conclusions of law. TEX.R.CIV.P. 297. If the trial court fails to make the findings, the party requesting the findings must complain of the omission to the trial court in writing within thirty-five days after the judgment is signed. Id.

It is clear from the record that the judgment was signed on August 31, 1984. Appellant did not receive notice of the judgment until September 21, 1984. Appellant argues that he was harmed by the failure to receive this notice within the prescribed time period. Under TEX.R.CIV.P. 306a(4), however, in the event notice is not properly received, the requisite time periods begin to run from the date the party received the notice or acquired actual knowledge of the signing of the judgment, whichever occurred first. Therefore, we find that there was no harm to appellant due to the delay in the notice.

On September 28, 1984, appellant filed a request for findings of fact and conclusions of law and a motion for new trial. The request was thus timely filed pursuant to TEX.R.CIV.P. 296. However, no other instrument was filed by appellant until the filing of his motion for post judgment relief on November 28, 1984. Moreover, this motion was filed some time after appellant received the trial judge’s letter of November 2, 1984, advising appellant that he had never been notified of the request for findings of fact and conclusions of law.

Since appellant failed to timely call this omission to the attention of the trial judge pursuant to the procedure set forth in TEX.R.CIV.P. 297, we find that he cannot now complain on appeal that he was harmed by the trial court’s failure to file findings of fact and conclusions of law. See International Products, Inc. v. Chem-Clean Products, Inc., 611 S.W.2d 481, 482 (Tex.Civ.App.—Waco 1980, no writ); Zaru v. Zaruba, 498 S.W.2d 695, 697 (Tex.Civ.App.—Corpus Christi 1973, writ dism’d). Point of error eight is overruled.

Points of error one through four all challenge issues of fact that appellant contends were not proven by appellees. These points of error are not framed in terms of “no evidence” or “insufficient evidence” points.

In a trial to the court where no findings of fact or conclusions of law are filed the judgment of the trial court implies all necessary findings of fact in support thereof. In the Interest of W.E.R., 669 S.W.2d 716, 717 (Tex.1984); Burnett v. Motyka, 610 S.W.2d 735, 736 (Tex.1980). These implied findings may be challenged by “no evidence” and “insufficient evidence” points and where such points are raised, the standard of review to be applied is the same as that to be applied in the review of jury findings or a trial court’s findings of fact. Burnett, 610 S.W.2d at 736.

Where the implied findings of fact are supported by the evidence, it is the duty of the appellate court to uphold the judgment on any theory of law applicable to the case. W.E.R., 669 S.W.2d at 717; Lassiter v. Bliss, 559 S.W.2d 353, 358 (Tex.1977). This is so regardless of whether the trial court articulates the correct legal reason for the judgment. Gulf Land Co. v. Atlantic Refining Co., 134 Tex. 59, 131 S.W.2d 73, 84 (1939); Rheiner v. Varner, 627 S.W.2d 459, 462 (Tex.App.—Tyler 1981, no writ).

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693 S.W.2d 774, 1985 Tex. App. LEXIS 6909, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/foreman-v-graham-texapp-1985.