Freeman v. Hernandez

521 S.W.2d 108, 1975 Tex. App. LEXIS 2513
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided March 13, 1975·No. 18549·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinion

CLAUDE WILLIAMS, Chief Justice.

Vicki Hernandez sued C. E. Freeman and C. C. Freeman, seeking to recover the balance due on a promissory note. The Freemans answered and also filed a cross-action in which they asserted that the promissory note required the payment of usurious interest contrary to Vernon’s Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann. art. 5069-1.02 (Vernon 1971) and was, therefore, void. They sought judgment for the penalties and attorney fees provided by Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat. Ann. art. 5069-1.06 (Vernon 1971). The trial court, sitting without a jury, rendered judgment for Vicki Hernandez in the sum of $3,500. The judgment denied the Free-mans recovery on their cross-action. We reverse that judgment.

A brief summary of the evidence is deemed essential. Vicki and Rudolph Hernandez were divorced in April 1969. As a part of the property settlement, Vicki received a note for $12,000 secured by a mortgage on the Dallasite Club and Dunes Club which had been owned by the parties. Subsequently, the agreement was amended to increase Vicki’s interest to the sum of $15,000. Rudolph arranged to sell the Dal-lasite Club to C. E. Freeman for $25,000. Fifteen thousand dollars of this amount was to be paid to Vicki. In August 1970, Vicki received an initial payment of $5,000. On March 3, 1971, Vicki received the remaining $10,000 from C. E. Freeman and signed a release of her interest in the club. C. E. Freeman had requested Vicki to make him a loan in the sum of $6,000. At the time Vicki cashed the $10,000 check, she delivered to C. E. Freeman a cashier’s check for $6,000. In return, she received a note, dated March 3, 1971, signed by both C. E. Freeman and his father, C. C. Freeman, in which they each agreed to pay Vicki Hernandez three installments on definite dates, in the amount of $2,500 each. Thereafter Vicki was paid $2,500 on the note, but no payments were made thereafter.

Vicki Hernandez sued to recover the balance of $5,000 on the note, or in the alternative to recover $3,500, the balance of the principal of the loan after crediting the $2,500 payment. In response to the counterclaim for usury, Vicki alleged: (1) that she had no knowledge of any interest being charged on the note; (2) that the Free-mans pleaded with her and pressured her into “signing the note” which they prepared; (3) that the Freemans fraudulently misrepresented to her that the loan was valid and were accordingly estopped from asserting their usury claim; (4) that in the alternative, the note was a mutual mistake, as none of the parties had knowledge of the usury statutes, and, therefore, the same should be reformed.

When the case came on for trial before the court, without a jury, the parties entered into an agreement authorizing the trial court to consider the depositions of Cumby E. Freeman, Vicki Hernandez and Rudolph Hernandez, which had been taken in connection with not only this litigation but another suit involving damages for breach of a lease agreement. The parties stipulated the note in question and the one payment of $2,500. It was stipulated that the sum of $1,500 would be reasonable at *110 torney fees to be allowed Vicki Hernandez in the event she recovered from the Free-mans, and in the event the Freemans recovered from Vicki on their cross-action they would likewise be entitled to a reasonable attorney fee of $1,500. It was expressly stated in the stipulation that the cause should not be submitted to the court as an agreed case under Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, rule 263 and that the parties did not agree to the correctness of the facts, but merely agreed as to the manner of presentation of testimony and the evidence which the trial court could accept or request as in any other nonjury trial. No other testimony was offered other than this agreement and the depositions. The court rendered judgment for $3,500 in favor of Vicki and against , the Freemans. No findings of fact or conclusions of law were requested or filed.

In three points of error, appellants contend that since the undisputed evidence demonstrates that Vicki Hernandez loaned the Freemans $6,000 on March 3, 1971, and took a note for $7,500 payable in three semi-annual installments payable in $2,500 each, for which the maximum legal interest at ten percent would be $525, such interest provided for in the note was more than double the minimum legal rate and was therefore void. Thus appellants urge that the trial court erred in rendering judgment for Vicki Hernandez for $3,500 and in not rendering judgment for the Freemans for the legal penalty and attorney fees as allowed by law.

In a case such as this, where there are no findings of fact or Conclusions of law, we are required to affirm the judgment of the trial court if the same can be sustained on any reasonable theory supported by the evidence and authorized by law. Bishop v. Bishop, 359 S.W.2d 869, 871 (Tex.1962). Accordingly, we have examined the record in an effort to determine if the trial court’s decree can be supported upon any of the theories advanced by the pleadings. From this study of the record, we find no evidence, or insufficient evidence, to support Vicki Hernandez’s unsworn pleadings: (1) that she had no knowledge of any interest being charged; (2) that the Freemans pressured her into making the loan; or (3) that the Free-mans are guilty of fraud. This lack of evidence can probably be attributed to restriction of the evidence to the depositions which did not fully develop the facts.

Appellee strongly urges us to affirm the trial court’s judgment on the theory of reformation. As stated above, ap-pellee, in answer to the usury charge, pled, in the alternative, that the note and the agreement between the parties constitutes a mutual mistake and that such contract and agreement should be reformed to provide for payment of the principal amount of $6,000, less the amount previously paid.

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Freeman v. Hernandez, 521 S.W.2d 108, 1975 Tex. App. LEXIS 2513 (Tex. Ct. App. 1975).

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