Joseph Richard Rozsa v. 2500 Hwy 183 LP

Texas Court of Appeals, 8th District (El Paso)·Decided June 26, 2026·No. 08-24-00100-CV·Published

Opinion

COURT OF APPEALS

EIGHTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS

EL PASO, TEXAS

Studios, LLC for non-payment of rent. Lessees and Rozsa were enjoined by the trial court, and Rozsa challenges the temporary injunction on appeal. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND In 2021, Launch Commerce entered into a commercial lease agreement with Landlord.

Rozsa signed the agreement as President of Launch Commerce. In August 2023, Launch Studios assumed the lease, but Launch Commerce was not released from any obligations under the lease. Rozsa signed the “Assignment and Assumption of Lease” agreement as President of both Launch Commerce and Launch Studios (collectively, the LLCs). Rozsa also signed a personal guaranty. Landlord alleges that the LLCs failed to pay rent beginning in June 2023.

In October 2023, Landlord exercised a right it claimed the lease expressly provided—

retaking the property by altering the locks and terminating the tenant’s right of possession. Launch Studios responded by obtaining an ex parte writ of reentry from a justice court in November 2023. But two weeks later, after a hearing, the justice court dissolved the writ of reentry, finding that “the lockout by [Landlord] was not improper by the terms of lease” and the Launch Studios was “not entitled to continued use and enjoyment of the property[.]” The justice court set the amount of an appeal bond at $7,014. Launch Studios appealed that decision to a county court and attempted to meet the appeal bond requirement through Rosza filing an affidavit of inability to post appeal bond. Landlord successfully challenged that bond because (1) the affidavit addressed Rozsa’s personal financials, not the LLCs’, and (2) that type of affidavit does not apply to commercial leases. Finding that it lacked jurisdiction, the county court remanded the appeal to the justice court.

In January 2024, Landlord filed suit in a district court against the LLCs and Rozsa for breach of contract and trespass. A month later, it amended the petition to seek injunctive relief, claiming Rozsa had filed a second ex parte writ of reentry with a justice court, which was later

dismissed with prejudice. Contending that a forcible entry and detainer action would not be an effective or useful remedy, Landlord sought a temporary and permanent injunction to order the LLCs and Rozsa to vacate the property and refrain from further interfering with it. The amended petition alleges that after the justice court held that Landlord was entitled to possession of the premises and the appeal of that decision was remanded, Launch Studies refused to leave. Additionally, it alleged that Rozsa was manipulating the “civil process in the justice court to prevent [Landlord] from its use and enjoyment of the property” by falsely swearing to facts that were not true. Adding causes of action for malicious prosecution and abuse of process against the LLCs and Rozsa, Landlord further claimed that Launch Studios “has continued to engage in conduct that disrupts other Tenants in the center and has harassed and made threats against the property manager and others.”

Together, the LLCs and Rozsa filed a response, signed only by Rozsa. Rozsa is not an attorney. Because only a licensed attorney may represent an entity in a Texas district court, Landlord moved to strike the LLCs’ answer.

In March 2024, the trial court heard and granted the Application for Temporary Injunction.

Its order reflects that the LLCs did not appear through counsel, and Rozsa could not represent their interests. The order recites that the court took testimony and received evidence. The court’s decision is supported by several findings, including:

9. [Landlord] has prevailed on two writs of reentry hearings, has terminated the Lease, and has requested Defendants to vacate the Premises.

Defendants refuse to vacate the Premises, and remains in possession of the Premises without consent of the landlord.

10. Joseph Rozsa, an individual defendant has no independent right to use or occupy the Premises.

11. [Landlord] has a bona fide cause of action against Defendants for trespass and a probable right to the relief sought in this action for a continuing trespass. [Landlord] will in all likelihood prevail on the merits on its cause of action for trespass.

. . .

13. The lost use and interference of its property is probable, imminent, continuous, and constitutes irreparable injury to [Landlord]. Unless Defendants’ acts are enjoined prior to trial on the merits, Defendants are likely to continue in their course of conduct, which threatens [Landlord]

use and enjoyment of its property including its contractual rights, property rights, possessory rights, and financial interests.

The temporary injunction ordered the LLCs and Rozsa to surrender and vacate the property, and refrain from future interference with Landlord’s right of possession and use. The order became effective on Landlord’s posting of a $5,000.00 bond. The case was set for final trial in August 2024.

The LLCs and Rozsa then filed a notice of appeal from the temporary injunction order, signed only by Rozsa.1 Rozsa alone filed an appellate brief for the LLCs and himself. Because corporate entities must be represented by a licensed attorney, we ordered the LLCs to file an amended notice of appeal and appellate brief complying with the rules of representation of corporate parties. See Tex. Gov’t Code §§ 81.101–102 (prohibiting the practice of law in Texas unless the person is a member of the state bar); Tex. Gov’t Code §§ 83.001–006 (prohibiting unlicensed persons from practicing law).

In response, Attorney Jamie D. Pesantes purportedly entered an appearance for the LLCs.

Other pleadings followed: (1) a motion on behalf of the LLCs to adopt the brief previously filed by Rozsa; (2) an emergency motion to stay temporary injunction pending appeal; and (3) a motion

1 The filing was in the Third Court of Appeals, as the property and lower courts are in Travis County. The appeal was transferred to this Court by the Texas Supreme Court pursuant to its docket equalization efforts. As such, we apply the precedent of the Third Court of Appeals to extent it may conflict with our own. Tex. R. App. P. 41.3.

to stay and vacate summary judgment ruling. We requested a response from Landlord. Almost immediately following the entry of appearance, Pesantes contacted this Court claiming that the filings made on behalf of the LLCs were fraudulent and allegedly submitted by his now-former paralegal without his authorization. He moved to withdraw the filings and to withdraw his name as attorney of record for the LLCs. Relying on Pesantes’s representations as an officer of the court, we granted the motions. Concluding that the LLCs failed to appear and amend their filings in the time provided for by the court, we dismissed them from the appeal.

In response to Pesantes’s filings, Landlord filed a combined motion to dismiss and motion for sanctions urging this Court to dismiss the appeal as an appropriate sanction for Rozsa’s fraud on the Court. Specifically, Landlord alleged that Rozsa committed fraud by (1) explicitly representing to this Court and to Landlord that the LLCs had retained Pesantes, when they had not, (2) fabricating a false email and phone number for Pesantes, and (3) using the fabricated contact information and forged signature to make five filings in this Court. Rozsa disputed Pesantes’s allegations, and we remanded the appeal to the trial court for a hearing to determine the truth of the disputed allegations.

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