Gallegos v. Gulf Coast Investment Corp.

483 S.W.2d 944, 1972 Tex. App. LEXIS 2225
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 25, 1972
DocketNo. 15910
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 483 S.W.2d 944 (Gallegos v. Gulf Coast Investment Corp.) 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
Gallegos v. Gulf Coast Investment Corp., 483 S.W.2d 944, 1972 Tex. App. LEXIS 2225 (Tex. Ct. App. 1972).

Opinion

PEDEN, justice.

Suit on a promissory note for home improvements given by Mr. and Mrs. Gallegos to Texas American Home Builders, [946]*946who promptly sold it to Gulf Coast Investment Co., along with a mechanics’ and materialmen’s lien contract and deed of trust given to secure payment of the note.

Gulf Coast brought this suit against the appellants, who joined Texas American as third party defendants and alleged that Texas American and Gulf Coast had conspired to defraud them. Also, that agents, servants or employees of Texas American, acting within the scope of their employment, had induced defendants to execute the note, contract and deed of trust by fraudulently representing to them that they would not be charged for the aluminum siding which was to be applied to their house, only for the labor. That Gulf Coast was not a holder in due course.

When this cause was called for trial on the merits, the trial court granted Texas American’s motion for dismissal, which asserted that the Gallegos’ third-party action against Texas American sought only the cancellation of the contracts and other instruments signed by Mr. and Mrs. Gallegos and announced that Texas American disclaimed any interest in them.

At the close of the evidence in the jury trial of Gulf Coast’s cause of action, the trial court withdrew the case from the jury and granted Gulf Coast’s motion for judgment.

The appellants complain that the trial court erred 1) in withdrawing this case from the jury and rendering judgment in favor of Gulf Coast, 2) in dismissing Texas American and refusing to allow Mr. and Mrs. Gallegos to file a trial amendment, 3) in excluding from evidence the original contract between Texas American and the Gallegos and 4) in excluding from evidence an interest rate book.

It is the position of appellee Gulf Coast that under the evidence in this case Gulf Coast was, as a matter of law, a holder in due course of a negotiable instrument and thus was not subject to the defenses raised by Mr. and Mrs. Gallegos.

The instruments in question were executed prior to June 30, 1966, the effective date of the Uniform Commercial Code, so the Texas Negotiable Instruments Act was the applicable law.

It was shown that the Federal Housing Administration foreclosed its first lien on the Gallegos’ home and that the trustee under a deed of trust conveyed it to the Federal Housing Commissioner on June 1, 1965.

In support of their first point of error the appellants argue that Gulf Coast was not a holder in due course, that appellants, who could not speak or read English, were fraudulently induced to sign the instruments in question, that fact issues were raised as to whether the appellants were free from negligence in doing so and that Gulf Coast and Texas American conspired to defraud them.

Since the trial court sustained the plaintiff’s motion for judgment on the basis that there were no fact issues to be submitted to the jury, we must accept as true the evidence in the record supporting the Gallegos’ allegations against the plaintiff. All conflicts and inconsistencies must be resolved in favor of Mr. and Mrs. Gallegos, and we must draw all inferences therefrom most favorable to their alleged cause of action. Constant v. Howe, 436 S.W.2d 115 (Tex.1968).

A purchaser for value of a note negotiable on its face cannot be a holder in due course if he requires the payee of the note to secure the execution of an additional instrument by the maker as a condition precedent to his purchase of the note. Allied Building Credits v. Ellis, 258 S.W. 2d 165 (Tex.Civ.App.1953, no writ), 44 A.L.R.2d 32, 117; Heller & Co. v. Dajor Construction Co., 460 S.W.2d 266 (Tex.Civ.App.1970, no writ). In the Allied Building Credits case, supra, the additional instrument required by the purchaser of the note was a certification by the maker of the note, on a form furnished by the [947]*947purchaser, that the work in question had been fully completed. The opinion stated:

“The rule is that where additional instruments are executed in connection with a negotiable instrument, as between the original parties, all instruments are to be treated as one. Where one is a holder in due course, the above rule does not apply, and the rights of the holder are determined by looking only to the negotiable instrument itself. But here the case is different. Appellant Finance Company, who purchased the note, and claims to be a holder in due course, while not an original party to the note, not only had knowledge of the additional instrument, but actually caused if to he executed. Appellant by its course of action becomes an original party to the additional instrument; and forfeits what might otherwise have been its status as a holder in due course. Therefore, as between Appellees (makers of the note), and Appellant (who required the additional instrument), the note and the additional instrument must be treated as one. See Continental Nat. Bank of Fort Worth v. Conner, 147 Tex. 218, 214 S. W.2d 928, 929.”

Mr. L. B. Litton, an assistant secretary of Gulf Coast testified that he had supervision and control over the loan records. He said Gulf Coast bought the note in question from Texas American Builders in the ordinary course of business for a valuable consideration before any payments on it were due. The face amount of the note was $2,866.50, and no payments were received on it. The note bears the date May 7, 1965. His records show it was assigned to Gulf Coast on or about that date, that a mechanics’ and materialmen’s lien was executed on May 6, 1965 and assigned to Gulf Coast on May 7.

A letter dated May 3, 1965' from Gulf Coast to Mr. Gallegos was admitted in evidence. It stated that his application for credit in the amount of $1,950 through Texas American Builders had been' approved. Mr. Litton related that Gulf Coast bought the loan for $1,852.50 and the payments over five years would total $2,866.50.

The note was admitted in evidence. It appears to bear the signature of Mr. Gallegos, and Mrs. Gallegos appears to have signed it by making an X. Mr. Litton testified that Gulf Coast furnished to Texas American and to numerous other home improvement contractors the forms which the defendants signed, including a completion certificate dated May 7, 1965. He was asked what items were included in a loan package from a home improvement contractor “before you would make a disbursement.” He replied that first they would have checked the credit and merits of the borrower, they would have a promissory note, an M. & M. lien and a completion certificate.

Appellant Mrs. Elvira Gallegos testified through an interpreter that the circumstances of her signing the contract were that she was cooking and heard her husband talking to some people; she was called in to sign the contract. She told them she didn’t know how to sign, and she put an X on it. They showed her a picture of how her house would look “on the day of remodeling.” The contents of the contract were not explained to her “because I wasn’t present.”

The two men who brought the contract didn’t return and didn’t finish the job. She remembers going to a lady’s home to sign the paper.

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Related

Glendon Investments, Inc. v. Brooks
748 S.W.2d 465 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1988)
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Gallegos v. Gulf Coast Investment Corp.
491 S.W.2d 659 (Texas Supreme Court, 1973)

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Bluebook (online)
483 S.W.2d 944, 1972 Tex. App. LEXIS 2225, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gallegos-v-gulf-coast-investment-corp-texapp-1972.