Qualon Douglas v. Farmers Insurance Federal Credit Union

Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided June 6, 2022·No. 05-21-00396-CV·Published

Opinion

Affirmed and Opinion Filed June 6, 2022

In The

Court of Appeals

Fifth District of Texas at Dallas No. 05-21-00396-CV

QUALON DOUGLAS, Appellant V.

FARMERS INSURANCE FEDERAL CREDIT UNION, Appellee

On Appeal from the County Court at Law No. 7 Collin County, Texas

Trial Court Cause No. 007-01704-2020

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Before Justices Partida-Kipness, Nowell, and Pedersen, III Opinion by Justice Partida-Kipness This appeal arises from a debt collection suit brought by appellee Farmers

Insurance Federal Credit Union (FIFCU) against appellant Qualon Douglas. Douglas appeals the trial court’s order denying his motion to transfer venue and its judgment in favor of FIFCU. We overrule Douglas’s issues and affirm the judgment.

BACKGROUND

Douglas applied for a credit card from FIFCU in December 2011. At the time of the application, FIFCU provide Douglas with the written Cardholder Agreement and Disclosure Statement (Credit Card Agreement). FIFCU issued a credit card to Douglas, who then began using the credit card by receiving cash advances from

FIFCU and purchasing goods and services with the card. FIFCU maintains that Douglas breached the Credit Card Agreement by failing and refusing to make timely payments to FIFCU under the Credit Card Agreement. Douglas made a payment of $303.00 on January 14, 2020, and made no additional payments thereafter. As of June 20, 2020, the past due monthly installment payments totaled $1,848.00.

FIFCU sent Douglas a demand letter on June 24, 2020, notifying him of the default and demanding payment of all past due monthly payments owed to FIFCU under the credit card agreement. The letter informed Douglas that FIFCU would accelerate the maturity of the credit due and demand payment of the entire balance unless Douglas either paid the past-due amount of $1,848.00 by July 27, 2020, or disputed the validity of the debt within thirty days of receipt of the demand letter. Douglas did not cure the default or dispute the debt’s validity. On August 5, 2020, FIFCU sent Douglas a second demand letter notifying Douglas that FIFCU had accelerated the debt and demanding payment of the full, unpaid principal balance of the account, plus all accrued and unpaid interest. The letter further informed Douglas that as of July 25, 2020, the balance due and owing was $15,934.76, consisting of $15,002.95 of principal, $756.81 of accrued interest, and $175.00 of late charges, with interest continuing to accrue after July 25, 2020. Douglas failed to cure the default, and FIFCU filed the underlying lawsuit to collect the debt.

FIFCU served Douglas with the lawsuit via certified mail return receipt requested sent to the address on Douglas’s account: P.O. Box 260155, Plano, Texas

75026. The clerk’s office filed an officer’s return, noting the clerk served the petition on Douglas via certified mail on August 14, 2020. The signature on the green card was illegible. The P.O. box address was in Collin County.

On September 3, 2020, Douglas filed a pro se motion to transfer venue from Collin County to Dallas County. Douglas relied on the general and permissive venue statutes in support of his motion to transfer. TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM. CODE §§ 15.002, 15.035. He alleged Dallas County was the proper venue under the general venue statute because Dallas County is where all or a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claim occurred, it is his county of residence, and Dallas County is more convenient for the parties. See id. §§ 15.002(a)(1), (a)(2), (b). Douglas also argued that Dallas County was the proper venue in an action to collect a consumer debt under the permissive venue statute. See id. § 15.035. In the signature block of his motion, however, Douglas listed his address as the Plano P.O. box. Douglas also listed the P.O. box as his current address on the supporting declaration he signed under penalty of perjury on September 1, 2020. On September 4, 2020, Douglas sent a letter to the court requesting a copy of the green card, and he used the P.O. Box on his letterhead. Douglas consistently used the Plano P.O. box as his address throughout his filings in the trial court and disclosed to the trial court no address in Dallas County as his residence.

FIFCU filed a response to the motion, arguing that Collin County was the proper venue because it was the county of Douglas’s residence, the county where he

signed the Credit Card Agreement, and the county where all or a substantial part of the events giving rise to the action occurred. In support, FIFCU attached evidence that Douglas resides in Collin County, including his current voter registration card showing his residence address as an address in Collin County. A credit card statement attached to FIFCU’s petition shows Douglas’s address as the Plano P.O. Box. In addition, FIFCU argued that Douglas did not offer a residential address in Dallas County to support his motion. The trial court denied the motion to transfer venue.

Douglas filed a general denial on October 15, 2020. FIFCU served Douglas with written discovery, including FIFCU’s First Request for Admissions, on October 22, 2020, by three separate service methods: (1) through the trial court’s electronic filing and service system, (2) by email, and (3) by United States Postal Service (USPS) Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested, postage prepaid. The electronic delivery receipt from the trial court’s electronic filing and service system shows that Douglas opened Plaintiff’s First Request for Admissions on October 23, 2020, and opened the document again on October 27, 2020. The USPS online tracking information shows that the First Request for Admissions was picked up at the postal facility by an individual on November 20, 2020, and the green card shows it was signed for and received by Douglas on November 20, 2020. Douglas failed to respond to the discovery within thirty days of any of those service dates.

On March 26, 2021, FIFCU filed a traditional and no evidence motion for summary judgment, set the motion for hearing by submission on April 29, 2021, and served Douglas with notice of the hearing date. The only filings by Douglas after FIFCU filed the motion for summary judgment were his March 30, 2021 responses to FIFCU’s written discovery; an April 22, 2021 motion to dismiss, which Douglas now contends was his response to the motion for summary judgment; and two summary judgment motions filed on April 28, 2021.

The trial court signed an order granting FIFCU’s motion for summary judgment on April 29, 2021. In the order, the trial court stated that Douglas was properly and timely served with the motion but filed no response to the motion. The trial court awarded FIFCU the principal debt due of $15,002.95, plus post-judgment interest on the principal as set out in the Credit Card Agreement, pre-judgment interest, late charges, courts costs, $7,000.00 in reasonable and necessary attorney’s fees through the date of judgment, and statutory post-judgment interest. The trial court also awarded FIFCU certain conditional attorney’s fees in the event Douglas filed post-judgment motions or appealed the judgment. This appeal followed.

ANALYSIS

In two issues, Douglas contends we should reverse the trial court’s judgment

because the trial court erred by denying his motion to transfer venue and granting FIFCU’s motion for summary judgment. We will address each issue in turn.

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Qualon Douglas v. Farmers Insurance Federal Credit Union, (Tex. Ct. App. 2022).

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