Onyd, LLC v. Chandra a Williams

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 3, 2020
Docket14-19-00144-CV
StatusPublished

This text of Onyd, LLC v. Chandra a Williams (Onyd, LLC v. Chandra a Williams) 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
Onyd, LLC v. Chandra a Williams, (Tex. Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

Affirmed and Memorandum Opinion filed December 3, 2020.

In The

Fourteenth Court of Appeals

NO. 14-19-00144-CV

ONYD, LLC, Appellant

V. CHANDRA A. WILLIAMS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 157th District Court Harris County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. 2016-43535

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Appellant Onyd, LLC and appellee Chandra A. Williams possessed competing deeds to the same piece of property. Onyd sued to quiet title to the property and Williams filed counterclaims seeking the same relief. After a bench trial, the trial court signed a final judgment in favor of Williams. For the reasons below, we affirm. BACKGROUND

This dispute involves conflicting ownership claims to a house located at 3811 Alsace Street in Houston, Texas (the “Property”). The Property was owned by Donna H. Richardson1 and in 2004, she signed a warranty deed conveying the Property to Williams. The deed was not recorded in the real property records of Harris County.

On January 29, 2016, Richardson signed a second warranty deed conveying the Property to Onyd. The 2016 deed was recorded in the Harris County real property records on April 7, 2016. Approximately one month later, Williams recorded her 2004 deed from Richardson.

Onyd initiated the underlying proceeding in June 2016 and filed a “Motion for Judicial Review of Documentation or Instrument Purporting to Create a Claim on Real Property”. In its motion, Onyd asserted that Williams’s deed was an “invalid encumbrance” that should not be afforded any legal status. Onyd requested the trial court “enter an order striking [the 2004 deed] from the record as an invalid deed thereby allowing [Onyd] to enjoy title to the property.”

In response, Williams asserted that Onyd had notice of her 2004 deed before its 2016 purchase of the Property. Based on this notice, Williams argued, Onyd could not claim superior title with respect to the Property even though Onyd’s 2016 deed was recorded before Williams’s deed. Williams also asserted counterclaims against Onyd, Richardson, Sellusyourhouse.com, Thomas Perry (the owner of Onyd), and Keval Patel (Onyd’s attorney) for declaratory judgment, temporary injunction, fraud, trespass to try title, and to quiet title.

The parties proceeded to a bench trial in February 2019. At pre-trial 1 In the trial transcript, Richardson also is referred to as Donna Haskett.

2 conference, counsel for Williams agreed to dismiss the claims against Sellusyourhouse.com, Perry, and Patel, and to proceed only against Onyd and Richardson. Williams’s counsel also stated that Richardson had defaulted with respect to the claims asserted against her.2 The parties agreed they were both proceeding on their claims for trespass to try title and to quiet title to the Property.

The trial court heard testimony from four witnesses: (1) Perry; (2) Williams; (3) Anthony Myers (Richardson’s son); and (4) Betty Munks (the tenant residing at the Property when the 2016 deed was signed). In large part, the witnesses’ testimony addressed Onyd’s processes with respect to its purchase of the Property and Perry’s knowledge regarding Williams’s 2004 deed. Asserting that he had received limited information regarding adverse interests in the Property, Perry pointed out that Williams’s 2004 deed was not shown in either the county records or in a title commitment. In contrast, Myers testified that Perry specifically knew Richardson previously had sold the Property to Williams.

After hearing evidence and the arguments of counsel, the trial court signed a final judgment in Williams’s favor. The judgment states, in relevant part:

IT IS ORDERED that the Deed of Trust granted to ONYD, LLC, filed in the real property records of Harris County, Texas . . . dated January 29, 2016 is invalid and of no force and effect. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the title to the following real property, located at 3811 Alsace, Houston, Texas . . . is quieted in Chandra A. Williams[.] . . . This being the same property conveyed by General Warranty Deed dated March 1, 2004 recorded under . . . the Property Records of Harris County, Texas on May 16, 2016.

The trial court also awarded Williams $3,130 in actual damages and attorney’s

2 The clerk’s record does not contain a default judgment entered against Richardson. Richardson also is not a party to this appeal.

3 fees. The parties did not request findings of fact and conclusions of law. Onyd timely appealed.

ANALYSIS

On appeal, Onyd asserts the trial court erred by invaliding its 2016 deed and quieting title to the Property in Williams. Specifically, Onyd argues the trial court erred by impliedly finding that Onyd was not a bona fide purchaser of the Property as necessary to claim superior title.3

I. Standard of Review and Governing Law

Onyd relies on evidence presented at trial to support its contention that the trial court should have found in its favor. Construing Onyd’s brief liberally, we interpret these complaints as legal and factual sufficiency challenges. See Tello v. Bank One, N.A., 218 S.W.3d 109, 122 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2007, no pet.) (acknowledging that courts of appeals must construe appellate briefs reasonably and liberally).

When, as here, the trial court does not enter findings of fact and conclusions of law to support its ruling after a bench trial, we infer all findings necessary to support the judgment. See BMC Software Belg., N.V. v. Marchand, 83 S.W.3d 789, 795 (Tex. 2002); George Joseph Assets, LLC v. Chenevert, 557 S.W.3d 755, 764 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2018, pet. denied). The judgment of the trial court must be affirmed if it can be upheld on any legal theory that is supported

3 On appeal, Onyd raises four separate contentions that address this issue: (1) in a contest over interests in property, the general rule is that the “first in time is the first in right”; (2) Onyd is a “bona fide purchaser for value and took all necessary steps to verify the veracity of the information provided”; (3) “despite having information of a potentially conflicting claim to title, [Onyd] is only obligated to verify the specific facts provided”; and (4) constructive notice does not apply to these circumstances. Because these arguments all address Onyd’s status as a bona fide purchaser, we consider them together.

4 by the evidence. Land v. Land, 561 S.W.3d 624, 641 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2018, pet. denied).

Because the appellate record includes both the reporter’s and clerk’s records, the trial court’s implied findings are not conclusive and may be challenged for legal and factual sufficiency. See BMC Software Belg., N.V., 83 S.W.3d at 795. For a legal sufficiency challenge, we analyze the challenged finding by applying the same standards used to review the evidence supporting a jury’s finding. Harris Cty. v. Ramirez, 581 S.W.3d 423, 427 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2019, no pet.) (citing Catalina v. Blasdel, 881 S.W.2d 295, 297 (Tex. 1994)). We view the evidence in the light most favorable to the challenged finding and indulge every reasonable inference that would support it. City of Keller v. Wilson, 168 S.W.3d 802, 822 (Tex. 2005).

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Onyd, LLC v. Chandra a Williams, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/onyd-llc-v-chandra-a-williams-texapp-2020.