Love v. L K & P, Ltd.

920 S.W.2d 474, 31 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 1033, 1996 Tex. App. LEXIS 1509, 1996 WL 180174
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 17, 1996
DocketNo. 10-94-314-CV
StatusPublished

This text of 920 S.W.2d 474 (Love v. L K & P, Ltd.) 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
Love v. L K & P, Ltd., 920 S.W.2d 474, 31 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 1033, 1996 Tex. App. LEXIS 1509, 1996 WL 180174 (Tex. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

OPINION

PER CURIAM.

L K & P, Limited (L K & P) brought this suit against Raymond Love, Jr. and his sister Marie Niekle as transferors of two unin-dorsed promissory notes. L K & P also sued Raymond’s wife, Georgia, and Marie’s husband, Keith, based upon spousal liability. Raymond, Marie, Georgia, and Keith will be collectively referred to as Appellants. Both [476]*476sides moved for summary judgment; the court denied Appellants’ motion and granted L K & P a partial summary judgment holding Appellants liable to some degree1 on the notes.

We conclude that a person who does not sign an instrument is not liable as an indor-ser and that the court erred in granting judgment in favor of L K & P and in denying Appellants’ motion for summary judgment. Therefore, we will reverse the judgment and render the judgment that the court should have rendered granting Appellants’ motion for summary judgment.

BACKGROUND

On December 7,1985, Marie and Raymond sold 71.4 acres of land in Robertson County to Robert and Betty Krus. The Kruses executed two Real Estate Lien Notes, one to Raymond and one to Marie, each in the amount of $58,772.50 (the Krus notes). The payment of the notes was secured by a recorded Deed of Trust covering the property.

At the time of the sale, the 71.4-acre tract was encumbered by a lien in favor of the First National Bank of Navasota (the Bank), which secured a promissory note made by Raymond and Marie in the amount of $125,-000. In exchange for the Bank’s releasing its lien on the property, Raymond and Marie transferred the Krus notes and Deed of Trust to the Bank as security for the $125,-000 note (the collateral transfer). Although Raymond and Marie signed the “Collateral Transfer of Note,” they did not indorse either of the Krus notes.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was appointed receiver of the Bank when it was declared insolvent. Raymond and Marie’s note was in default, and on September 25, 1991, the FDIC foreclosed on the collateral, ie. the two Krus notes and the Deed of Trust securing them. James McCullough purchased the collateral at the foreclosure sale for $51,501 and assigned them to L K & P. Because the Krus notes were also in default, L K & P foreclosed upon the 71.4 acres, selling the property to McCullough at the foreclosure sale for $51,501. L K & P then instituted this suit against the Appellants to collect the balance due on the notes.2

Both sides moved for summary judgment. L K & P asserted that it was entitled to have Raymond’s and Marie’s unqualified indorse-ments, and therefore was entitled to judgment. Raymond and Marie contended that they could not be liable as indorsers on instruments they had not signed. L K & P’s motion also sought judgment against Raymond’s and Marie’s respective spouses, Georgia and Keith, based upon spousal-liability rules. Tex.Fam.Code Ann. § 5.61 (Vernon 1993). Georgia and Keith countered that they could not be liable on the Krus notes, even if their spouses are liable on the notes, because their separate property and sole-management community property is not subject to the contractual liability of their spouses. Id.

The court granted a partial summary judgment in favor of L K & P on all issues except for the value of the property securing the two Krus notes. After the parties stipulated to the amount of credit to be allowed for the value of the 71.4 acres,3 the court signed a final judgment and this appeal followed.

Appellants raise eight points of error. However, finding merit to points one, two, and eight, we need not address the others. First, Appellants contend that the court erred in granting a summary judgment against Georgia and Keith, the spouses. Second, they contend that the court erred in granting summary judgment against Raymond and Marie because they did not indorse the Krus notes. In their eighth point, they assert that the court erred in failing to grant their motion for summary judgment.

[477]*477STANDARD OF REVIEW

A party is entitled to a summary judgment if there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and he is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Tex.R.Civ.P. 166a(c). Because competing motions for summary judgment were filed and one was granted and the other denied, we will review both motions and render judgment for the party whose motion should have been granted. Novak v. Stevens, 596 S.W.2d 848, 849 (Tex.1980).

RAYMOND’S AND MARIE’S LIABILITY ON THE KRUS NOTES

Because Appellants’ first point (spousal liability) is dependent upon their second, we begin with point two: that the court erred in holding Raymond and Marie liable on the Krus notes in the absence of their signatures. To prove its entitlement to summary judgment and to collect on the four notes, LK&P had to conclusively establish: (1) the note in question; (2) the party sued signed the note; (3) the plaintiff is the owner or holder of the note, and (4) a certain balance is due and owing on the note. Bean v. Bluebonnet Sav. Bank F.S.B., 884 S.W.2d 520, 522 (Tex.App.-Dallas 1994, no writ).

The contested element is the second one. Each side points to the Krus notes and the absence of, or right to, indorsements thereon in support of its argument that it has established its right to a summary judgment. L K & P asserts that Raymond and Marie are liable on the Krus notes because (1) they transferred the Krus notes to the Bank in exchange for the Bank’s releasing the lien on the land, (2) the instrument was not payable to bearer, and (3) there was no agreement as to the extent of recourse the Bank would have against Raymond and Marie on the Krus notes. TexJBus. & Com.Code Ann. § 3.201(c) (Vernon 1994).4 Raymond and Marie claim that they did not indorse the notes and, therefore, have conclusively negated the second element. Id. § 3.401.5

At the time of Raymond and Marie’s collateral transfer of the Krus notes, section 3.201 provided:

Unless otherwise agreed any transfer for value of an instrument not then payable to bearer gives the transferee the specifically enforceable right to have the unqualified indorsement of the transferor. Negotiation takes effect only when the in-dorsement is made and until that time there is no presumption that the transferee is the owner.

Id. § 3.201(c).

LK&P asserts that it has shown its entitlement to have unqualified indorsements from Raymond and Marie under section 3.201, and that it has therefore established its right to judgment on the Krus notes. We disagree for two reasons.

Other Agreement Negates Entitlement TO ENDORSEMENT

First, the summary judgment evidence conclusively established that there was another agreement. Id. The Collateral Transfer of Note, executed by Raymond, Marie, and the Bank at the time of the transfer of the two notes and the Deed of Trust, stated that Raymond and Marie “hereinafter called ‘Debtor’ ... hereby TRANSFERS, ASSIGNS, AND CONVEYS unto [the Bank], hereinafter called

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Bluebook (online)
920 S.W.2d 474, 31 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 1033, 1996 Tex. App. LEXIS 1509, 1996 WL 180174, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/love-v-l-k-p-ltd-texapp-1996.