Moser v. McLemore

266 S.W.2d 253, 1953 Tex. App. LEXIS 1713
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 14, 1953
Docket6354
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 266 S.W.2d 253 (Moser v. McLemore) 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
Moser v. McLemore, 266 S.W.2d 253, 1953 Tex. App. LEXIS 1713 (Tex. Ct. App. 1953).

Opinion

PITTS, Chief Justice.

This suit arose as a result of a "written rental contract between appellee, W. F. McLemore, as lessor, and appellant, Charles W. Moser," as lessee. Appellee leased to appellant certain business arid apartment residential property located at 612 North Main Street in Borger, Hutchinson County, Texas, on Lot 23, Block 28 of the original townsite for a term running from May 3, 1948, to September 6, 1951, with a five year renewal option given lessee on the date of expiration thereof. A portion of the written contract states that:

“11th. It is agreed and understood that any holding over by the Lessee of the hereby leased premises after the expiration of this lease shall operate and be construed as a tenancy from month to month at a rental of $50.00”.

At the expiration of the lease, appellant, as lessee did not exercise the renewal option brit continued to hold the premises for a period of five months in accordance with the holdover tenancy clause but failed to pay the $50 per month rental for the said period, of time.

Appellee" filed suit against appellant for injunctive relief, for his monthly rerital of $50 for a peripd of five months .and for a foreclosure of his lien on certain furniture appellant had left in an unoccupied part of the., building being then held by appellant, alleging, in effect, as grounds for injunctive. relief that appellant was threatening to tear out of the said building and remove therefrom certain permanent plumbing fixtures and other attached fixtures of the proximate value of $1,100, having been therein added by appellant under the terms of the lease contract to become and did become a part of the permanent improveriients thereon which belonged to appellee. For these alleged reasons appellee sought to have appellant restrained from tearing out of the building such permanent fixtures *255 belonging to appellee under the terms of the written lease contract as well as for the contractual rentals in the sum of $250 due him and a lien foreclosure on certain property for such rentals. Upon the execution of a proper bond by appellee, the trial court issued a temporary restraining order accordingly.

Appellant answered with a general denial, that he was subleasing the premises and holding possession thereof under a new oral agreement between himself arid appellee and that appellee was guilty of conversion and had damaged him in the sum of $1,800 actual damages and $1,500 exemplary damages, which sums he sought to recover in a crossaction. As a basis for such recovery appellant also pleaded all of the terms of the original lease contract, attached a copy of it to his pleadings and made it a part thereof for all purposes. Without any objections appellee introduced the said lease contract in its entirety as a basis for his recovery. The parties are both therefore bound by all of its terms, one having pleaded it and the other having introduced it.

The case was tried, on its merits before the court without a jury on January 26, 1953, and final judgment was therein entered on March 23, 1953, denying appellant any recovery on his cross-action but awarding him an offset of $185 against the $250 rental allowance awarded appellee, who obtained judgment for his said rental allowance less the said offset, leaving a balance due of $65 for which sum appellee was authorized to foreclose his landlord’s lien and his contract lien on the furniture in question therein described and for title to certain attached plumbing and kitchen fixtures of a permanent nature therein listed and placed on the premises by appellant under the terms of the lease contract.to become a permanent part of appellee’s buildings at the expiration of the rental lease. The trial court’s judgment sets out many of its findings and conclusions.

Appellant perfected his appeal from the judgment and has attacked’ the same, in effect, because the trial court denied him any recovery on his crossaction because the trial court held, in effect, that no oral agreement between the parties existed by the terms of which appellant was holding over as claimed by him; because the trial court held that the OPA regulations did not interfere with the expiration date of the lease contract; because appellee repossessed the premises and held appellant’s personal property without first obtaining a court order because the trial court held appellant was obligated to leave three furnished apartments for appellee at the expiration of the lease contract; because the trial court awarded to appellee certain described fixtures that belonged to appellant under the terms of the léase contract. All of appellee’s complaints and claims can be determined by the terms of the contract, together with other evidentiary facts heard by the trial court and can be disposed of together.

The evidence consists only of the testimony of appellee and appellant, together with a copy of the original lease contract between the parties and a copy of a certain letter written to appellee by appellant concerning the terms of the lease contract then to be executed. The testimony of the two parties as witnesses was often highly controverted and appellant predicates some of his challenges and complaints upon his own testimony alone, disregarding the testimony of appellee to the contrary. Whereas the rule is well established that the trial judge is the trier of facts when a jury has been waived and he is the sole judge of the credibility of the witnesses and of the weight to be given their testimony. It is therefore within the province of the trial judge to disregard the testimony of either of the two witnesses when the same is controverted just as he may see fit. It is likewise an elementary rule of law that we, as an appellate court, must, under such circumstances, give credence only to the evidence and circumstances favorable to the trial court’s findings and judgment arid disregard all evidence and circumstances to the contrary in an effort to determine whether or not the evidence heard supports the trial court’s findings and *256 judgment. The rule also prevails that a trial court’s findings in support of its judgment will be upheld on appeal unless they are without support in the evidence and manifestly erroneous. Boston Ins. Co. v. Rainwater, Tex.Civ.App., 197 S.W.2d 118, and the numerous authorities therein cited. In perfecting his appeal appellant should be mindful of these rules of law since appellate courts must observe them when applicable as they are here.

In considering the testimony in the case at bar wherein the adversaries as the only witnesses heard testified contrary to each other on the controlling issues, the trial judge had the duty of determining whose testimony was most logical and who should prevail, in the controversial matters. When such has been done in compliance with the rules previously cited, the trial court’s findings concerning the controversial issues and judgment based thereon are binding upon the parties and the appellate courts.

The lease contract is too lengthy to set forth here in full but, for reasons previously stated, both parties are bound by its terms and neither party can successfully attack any of its terms.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Valero Transmission Co. v. Wagner & Brown
787 S.W.2d 611 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1990)
Wagner v. Smith
456 N.E.2d 523 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1982)
Bendele v. Tri-County Farmer's Co-Op
635 S.W.2d 459 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1982)
McDaniel v. Carruth
637 S.W.2d 498 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1982)
Robinson v. Faulkner
422 S.W.2d 209 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1967)
Pigg v. International Hospitals, Inc.
421 S.W.2d 169 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1967)
Gillespie v. Wagoner
190 N.E.2d 765 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1963)
Barrera v. Ruiz
308 S.W.2d 578 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1957)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
266 S.W.2d 253, 1953 Tex. App. LEXIS 1713, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/moser-v-mclemore-texapp-1953.