Pack v. First Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n of Tyler

828 S.W.2d 60, 1991 Tex. App. LEXIS 3030, 1991 WL 258981
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 6, 1991
DocketNo. 12-89-00289-CV
StatusPublished

This text of 828 S.W.2d 60 (Pack v. First Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n of Tyler) 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
Pack v. First Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n of Tyler, 828 S.W.2d 60, 1991 Tex. App. LEXIS 3030, 1991 WL 258981 (Tex. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

RAMEY, Chief Justice.

This is an appeal from a summary judgment in favor of First Federal Savings & Loan Association of Tyler (“First Federal”), arising out of an unconsummated sale of residential realty. The owners of the property, William D. Wood and his former wife, Geneva Sue Wood, both realtors, had two earnest money contracts for the sale of the property. Appellants Larry D. Pack (“Pack”), and wife, Virginia L. Pack were the buyers on the first contract of sale; the appellant Joe Embry (“Embry”) was the buyer on the second. The Woods were defendants below, but are not parties to this appeal. The summary judgment evidence consisted of affidavits by Embry and Joe Hobson (“Hobson”), Vice President of First Federal, and the depositions of Pack and his wife, Hobson, Embry, Geneva Sue Wood and William D. Wood. We will affirm the summary judgment.

Pack and his wife sued the Woods, Em-bry and First Federal for damages for tor-tious interference with Pack’s contract with the Woods as well as deceptive trade practices. Embry filed a counter-claim against Pack and a cross-action against the other original defendants alleging deceptive trade practices, the abuse of a fiduciary responsibility, misrepresentation due to a conflict of interest, negligence and gross negligence, fraud and an absence of fair dealing. Thereafter, appellee filed its motion for summary judgment that Pack and Embry take nothing in their suits against it. First Federal was granted its summary judgment; the remaining causes of action were severed.

The first contract was executed on September 3, 1988, by Geneva Sue Wood, as seller, to the Packs, for the total sales price of $58,797.66. The contract recited that the loan balance to be assumed was $51,-797.77 and that Pack would also pay $3,500 to each of the Woods. When presented with the Wood/Pack Earnest Money Contract, First Federal advised the parties that the loan balance recited in that contract was overstated in the amount of $1,900. In the subsequent negotiations stemming from this mistake, Wood and Pack disagreed on their respective financial obligations at closing, E.g., which party was responsible to pay the delinquent loan balance and which must pay certain unspecified closing costs; at closing, the Packs’ cash obligations might have been increased by as much as $4,000 under one construction of the corrected contract. A further contractual impediment was that William D. Wood, the former husband of Geneva Sue Wood, who originally executed the Wood/Pack agreement as seller, subsequently signed the Pack contract but made three handwritten changes to the instrument; there was no written acceptance of these amendments by the original parties to the contract.

The Wood’s residence was appraised at $80,000. The property had been posted for foreclosure sale on Tuesday, October 2, 1988. Closing of the Wood/Pack property sale was scheduled for the preceding Friday morning, September 30, 1988. This closing was canceled because of the failure of the contracting parties to agree upon their financial obligations as well as Mr. Pack’s alleged representations to Mr. Wood [62]*62that he could not pay the additional cash consideration.

Later on the same day, September 30, both of the Woods and Mr. Embry came to First Federal’s offices having previously executed the second contract of sale for the property, a Lease/Purchase Contractual Agreement (on an identical printed form as the Wood/Pack Earnest Money Contract) which agreement was recited to be:

[A] SECOND or Back Up Contract behind the Wood to Pack contract now pending at First Federal Savings and Loan Association in Tyler, Texas. If the Wood to Pack contract closes, this contract is null and void and all of Embry’s earnest money will be refunded.

At this September 30 meeting, the Woods delivered to First Federal two cashiers’ checks, payable to First Federal, with the Woods as remitters. Embry had previously purchased these checks from a third-party financial institution. The checks payable to First Federal reinstated the Woods’ house loan by paying the delinquent balance on the note as well as other closing expenses; the legal expenses incurred in posting the property for foreclosure were also reimbursed. Embry, thereafter, went into possession of the property and has, to the time of the summary judgment hearing, made the monthly payments to First Federal on this house loan on behalf of the Woods. No title to the realty has been conveyed to Embry.

Both appellants’ claims against First Federal relate to that conversation on September 30, 1988 at First Federal’s offices between the Woods, Embry and Hobson. Embry asserts that during this conversation, (1) Hobson agreed with Mr. Wood’s previously-stated opinion that Pack’s prior Earnest Money Contract was void, (2) that neither Pack nor anyone else had a claim on this property, and (3) that First Federal would make Embry a new assumption loan when he concluded his purchase of this property.

Since Pack was the only party other than Embry who has made a claim to the property, the first two alleged representations by Hobson pertain to the same issue: the viability of Pack’s contract with the Woods. The third representation, First Federal’s promise to make a loan to Embry, is undis-putedly predicated upon a concluded sale of the property to Embry, which sale has not yet occurred. Thus, Hobson’s only comment at the September 30 conference pertinent to this appeal was his alleged statement regarding the validity of the Pack contract.

Embry contends that although he had executed the Wood to Embry Lease/Purchase agreement prior to the Hobson meeting and also had previously procured the two cashiers’ checks payable to First Federal in performance of the executed contract, he, nevertheless, would not have delivered the checks to the Woods had Hob-son not confirmed Wood’s statement that the Pack contract was void.

Likewise, Pack’s claim is predicated upon the identical representation by Hobson that the Pack contract was void, thereby resulting in Embry “closing” his transaction with the Woods. Pack asserts that Hobson had a duty to advise Embry on September 30 that merely a contractual dispute had arisen between himself and the Woods and that Pack, nevertheless could close the transaction upon short notice. Pack argues that Hobson’s statement resulted in Embry’s paying the Woods’ indebtedness to First Federal. The summary judgment evidence reflects that Pack expected the Woods to resolve the financial impasse in his favor due to the imminence of the foreclosure.

Although the summary judgment evidence is disputed as to Hobson’s specific comments during the September 30 conversation, in our review of the summary judgment evidence, Embry’s deposition testimony of Hobson’s statements on that occasion, and every reasonable inference from it, will be taken as true. Wilcox v. St. Mary’s University, 531 S.W.2d 589, 593 (Tex.1975). Appellants’ points of error urge that First Federal was not entitled to its summary judgment, because there remained material fact issues in First Federal’s defense to their respective causes of action. See Tex.R.Civ.P. 166a(c).

[63]*63By deposition, Embry testified to his best recollection of Hobson’s remark on September 30 regarding the validity of the Wood/ Pack contract of sale:

Q Did Mr. Wood ever make any statement to you or to Mr. Hopson (sic) in your presence about Mr.

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828 S.W.2d 60, 1991 Tex. App. LEXIS 3030, 1991 WL 258981, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pack-v-first-federal-savings-loan-assn-of-tyler-texapp-1991.