Perez v. Hernandez

658 S.W.2d 697, 1983 Tex. App. LEXIS 4952
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedAugust 31, 1983
Docket13-82-104-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 658 S.W.2d 697 (Perez v. Hernandez) 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
Perez v. Hernandez, 658 S.W.2d 697, 1983 Tex. App. LEXIS 4952 (Tex. Ct. App. 1983).

Opinion

OPINION

YOUNG, Justice.

This case arises from a series of conveyances, contracts and agreements between the parties with respect to the acquisition of a 15.87 acre tract in Hidalgo County. Refugio Perez sued John Hernandez Sr., alleging four distinct causes of action. One of these causes was abandoned at the outset of the trial, leaving constructive trust, usury and wrongful foreclosure to be tried. Judgment was entered for Perez on the basis of constructive trust. Hernandez counterclaimed for a judgment on a $6,000.00 note secured by a lien on the 15.87 acre tract. After a non-jury trial, the trial court granted Hernandez’s counterclaim by predicating the plaintiff’s recovery on his payment of the entire indebtedness. The trial court also ordered that each party pay his own attorney’s fees and that the plaintiff pay the costs of suit. No findings of fact or conclusions of law were filed or requested. Perez appeals and Hernandez also complains, in a cross-point, that the judgment was erroneous.

The pertinent facts are as follows. Perez and Hernandez had engaged in business dealings for several years. These dealings involved real estate: specifically, Hernandez sold Perez a twelve acre tract and leased some land to Perez in a sharecropping arrangement. Hernandez owned the 15.87 acre tract, which is the subject of this suit, until 1973, when he sold it to Frank Meccia. As part of the consideration, Mec-cia executed a note for $9,500.00 to be paid in annual installments. The note provides for payment on October 5 of each year of $1,900.00 plus interest at the rate of 7%.

In 1977, Meccia sold the land to Mr. and Mrs. Ramiro Guajardo, who assumed the $9,500.00 note and executed one of their own for $10,600.00 to Meccia. ' Soon after the Guajardos purchased the land, they decided to sell it. Perez, whose twelve acres adjoined their tract, wanted to acquire it. He realized, however, that he lacked sufficient funds to buy the entire fifteen acres himself, so he contacted Hernandez and proposed that they purchase it together. According to Perez, the parties reached a decision to divide the land into an 8.87 acre parcel which would be his and a 7 acre parcel for Hernandez.

The terms of the sale were not rendered entirely clear by the pleadings or the evidence. It appears, however, that the two men were going to assume the $10,600.00 note. Hernandez would excuse payment on the remainder (a single installment of $1,900.00) of the $9,500.00 note, Perez would excuse payment of a debt (of approximately $4,000.00) owed to him by the Guajardos and the remainder would be cash. Perez paid the Guarjardos $1,000.00 and contends that Hernandez stated that he was depositing $2,000.00 with the attorney as earnest money. Hernandez testified that he did put a $2,000.00 deposit on the land. All of this was supposed to meet the Guajardos’ asking price of $18,000.00 and each party was supposed to contribute half that amount. This agreement was oral and was made at a meeting which took place on January 24, 1978 in the law office of Pena, McDonald, Prestía & Zipp. The record shows that a legal secretary was present but fails to disclose whether an attorney participated in the meeting. Each party now contends that attorneys in the firm represented his opponent.

The January meeting resulted in the execution by the Guajardos of an assumption warranty deed which conveyed the land to Hernandez and Perez. Within ten days, a dispute arose between Perez and Hernandez concerning the $4,000.00 debt which Perez said the Guajardos owed him. Because there was no documentation, Hernandez felt he “was being taken.” He no longer desired the joint purchase and conveyed his undivided half of the tract to Perez. In return, Perez assumed the $10,600.00 note and also executed a $6,000.00 note to Hernandez secured by a lien on the property. *700 Hernandez held back $2,033.00 from the $6,000.00 to pay off the $9,500.00 note. Trial testimony established that interest on the final payment, calculated by the Pena, McDonald, Prestía and Zipp secretary, was 21.29%; therefore, it was in excess of the amount provided on the note (7%) and higher than the lawful rate of interest.

As Perez observed before he began these transactions, he could not afford to purchase the land by himself. There was no payment of $2,000.00 to satisfy the interest due on the $10,600.00 note; Perez made no payments himself, so the Meccias instituted foreclosure proceedings. On April 4, 1978, the land was sold for $13,653.79 to Hernandez at the foreclosure sale.

Hernandez introduced evidence of the sums of money he has spent maintaining the land as a citrus grove. He did not offer nor did the appellant ask about the amount of sales of fruit.

The theory of the plaintiffs case appears to be- as follows. Hernandez’ representation that he paid $2,000.00 at the time of the closing caused the appellant to believe that this amount was deposited and applied to the interest owed on the $10,600.00 note (Guajardos to the Meccias). Perez contended that this payment was never made and that he was therefore placed in a precarious position by the appellee’s misrepresentation. The petition also alleged that Hernandez maintained a relationship with the Meccias which enabled him to influence them to foreclose. Since the parties were purchasing the property as co-tenants, the appellant claims that Hernandez and he had a confidential relationship. Perez further contended that because Hernandez’ breach of duty made possible the loss of the property and because Hernandez acquired that property, the court should decree that the appellee holds an interest in the land in a constructive trust for the benefit of Perez. This relief was granted conditioned upon the payment of the amounts due on the $6,000.00 note and the payment of $7,500.00 for the seven acres which would be the appellant’s share. The appellant also asked that the foreclosure sale be set aside due to lack of adequate notice. He did not prevail nor does he base his appeal on this ground of recovery.

The third claim which is the basis of a point of error is the appellant’s contention that the payment on the $9,500.00 note was usurious.

Where findings of fact and conclusions of law were not requested or filed, the judgment of the trial court should be affirmed if it can be upheld on any legal theory that finds support in the evidence. Bishop v. Bishop, 359 S.W.2d 869 (Tex.1962); Cortez v. National Bank of Commerce, 578 S.W.2d 476 (Tex.Civ.App.—Corpus Christi 1979, writ ref’d n.r.e.). Therefore, we must consider only that evidence which tends to support the trial court’s judgment and disregard all evidence to the contrary. Bishop v. Bishop, supra, at 871.

Before addressing any of the appellant’s points of error, we shall first dispose of the appellee’s crosspoint. Hernandez’ brief includes a statement that the finding of a constructive trust is supported by no evidence or is against the great weight and preponderance of the evidence. There is no discussion of facts or authorities under this point. Therefore, it is waived. See, Rule 418, Tex.R.Civ.P.

The appellant’s first point of error is based on the relief granted by the trial court.

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Bluebook (online)
658 S.W.2d 697, 1983 Tex. App. LEXIS 4952, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/perez-v-hernandez-texapp-1983.