Gant v. Stewart

347 S.W.2d 1, 1961 Tex. App. LEXIS 2361
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 11, 1961
DocketNo. 3868
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 347 S.W.2d 1 (Gant v. Stewart) 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
Gant v. Stewart, 347 S.W.2d 1, 1961 Tex. App. LEXIS 2361 (Tex. Ct. App. 1961).

Opinion

TIREY, Justice.

Plaintiffs, in their original petition, sought to enjoin the foreclosure sale under a deed of trust to certain property in the city of Houston and also sought to cancel the note and the deed of trust by virtue of which the foreclosure sale purported to proceed. The temporary injunction was denied and the trustee proceeded to make sale of the property under the terms of the deed of trust. Thereafter the appellee filed a cross-action for title and possession of the property and also sought judgment for a deficiency. Plaintiffs entered a plea of not guilty. The cause was tried without the aid of a jury, and the court decreed that plaintiffs take nothing on their action against the appellee and rendered judgment in favor of appellee against plaintiffs for title to and possession of the property, and described the property by metes and bounds. The court granted defendant’s motion to dismiss his plea for a deficiency judgment and decreed accordingly. Upon request of the plaintiffs the court filed findings of fact and conclusions of law. The findings of fact are very comprehensive; they consist of several pages of legal cap paper and we will point out what we believe to be the controlling facts. These findings show that on May 14, 1958, W. L. Allee and his wife, as grantors, conveyed to Leslie Gant and his wife, Marie Gant, Lots 47 and 48 in block 3 in Florida Gardens, an addition in Harris County, Texas, with all improvements thereon, and the grantees, as part of the consideration executed and delivered their purchase money note in the sum of $11,071.42, payable to Allee and his wife, which note was due and payable in installments as therein stated, and provided for interest at 8% per annum, and the note further provided for the usual contingencies as to maturity and attorney’s fees. The note was secured by a vendor’s lien and further secured by a deed of trust lien of even date with the deed. This note, on the day of its execution, was expressly assigned by Allee and his wife to Texas Investment Corporation, and the instrument assigned and set over the vendor’s lien and deed of trust lien to said corporation, and this instrument was recorded in the deed records of Harris County. The Gants made no payment of any installment or interest on the note, and the Texas Investment Corporation elected to declare the entire note due and notified the Gants that they would institute foreclosure proceedings, because of default of payment of the note. On July 9, 1958, Barnett Magids, in consideration of the execution and delivery of a note and deed of trust and a subrogation and renewal and extension of the foregoing indebtedness, at the request of the Gants, satisfied or caused to be satisfied the indebtedness owed and held by the Texas Investment Corporation, and the Gants made, executed and delivered to Barnett Magids their promissory note in the principal sum of $11,-100, payable to Barnett Magids in monthly installments of $100 each, including interest, with the first of such installments payable on or before September 1, 1958, and a like installment payable on the 1st day of each and every calendar month thereafter until such note had been fully paid. The Gants, contemporaneously with the execution of the foregoing note executed a deed of trust on the property to secure the payment of the note, and this deed of trust, among other things, recited that the indebtedness secured thereby was given in renewal and extension, but not in extinguishment of the unpaid balance in the amount of $11,071.42 owing on the note dated May 14, 1958, originally executed by the Gants. It further recited that all of the original liens securing the payment of said note should remain in full force and effect until the note and indebtedness dated July 9, 1958 was fully paid and satisfied, and further provided that Barnett Magids was subrogated to all liens, rights, equities and remedies held by the original owners and holders of the note dated May 4, 1958. This renewal note and the liens securing the same by valid assignment became the property of P. C. Stewart, appellee herein, [3]*3and on September 11, 1959, lie requested the trustee named in the deed of trust to proceed to post notices for sale of the property because of defaults in payment of interest and payments in the note and under the terms of the deed of trust. The findings of fact further state that the notices were posted in accordance with the terms of the deed of trust, and that the sale was made by substitute trustee at the court house door of Harris County between the hours provided by law, and at which sale Stewart became the purchaser of said property upon his bid of $8,000, which was the highest and best bid, and that the substitute trustee did execute and deliver the substitute trustee’s deed pursuant to powers contained in the deed of trust of July-9, 1958, wherein he conveyed the tract of land in question to Stewart. The Court concluded that the deed of trust dated July 9, 1958, executed by the appellants here, constituted a valid first and superior lien upon the property to secure the unpaid balance due and owing on the note of $11,071.42 described in the deed of trust; that plaintiffs made default in the payment of the note and that the entire balance owing thereon became due and payable in accordance with the exercise of the option contained in the note and deed of trust, and that the entire balance of principal and interest on the note amounted to the sum of $11,536.59, and that sum was due and owing on October 6, 1960, the date of the foreclosure; that such note and indebtedness was valid upon its face, and there was no evidence tending to show that same evidenced a usurious contract; that the appellants Gants were estopped by their conduct from asserting such defense against Stewart; that the note dated July 9, 1958, was in fact not a usurious contract; that the trustee’s sale held under the terms of the deed of trust by the substitute trustee was in all things regular and valid, and that the deed given by the substitute trustee to Stewart conveyed the full fee simple title to the property, and that Stewart is the owner in fee simple and is entitled to possession of. the property, and decreed accordingly.

The judgment is assailed on three points; they are substantially to the effect that the Court erred: (1) In finding that a subrogation and renewal and extension agreement was entered into between plaintiffs and Bárnett Magids; (2) In finding that there is no evidence in the record of the amount of money paid to Texas Investment Corporation by said Barnett Magids, in satisfaction of the indebtedness due plaintiffs to the Texas Investment Corporation; (3) In holding that the note in suit was valid on its face and that there was no, evidence tending to show that there was a usurious contract, and in holding that the plaintiffs were estopped by their conduct from asserting that the note of July 9, 1958, was in fact a usurious contract. We overruled each of the foregoing points for reasons which we shall hereafter briefly state. First of all, we have examined the statement of facts very carefully and find that appellees developed the history of this case in chronological order, and the deeds and deed of trust and the notes tendered in evidence set forth the manner in which the Gants acquired the property and the instruments by which such original vendor’s lien was retained and such lien and deed of trust lien passed into the hands of the ap-pellee. The Gants became delinquent in the payment of the note in question and they were sent notices that the holders intended to foreclose their lien and all of this is shown conclusively by ample testimony.

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Bluebook (online)
347 S.W.2d 1, 1961 Tex. App. LEXIS 2361, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gant-v-stewart-texapp-1961.