Savings & Loan Commissioner of Texas v. First Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n

434 S.W.2d 883, 1968 Tex. App. LEXIS 2583
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 4, 1968
DocketNo. 11635
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 434 S.W.2d 883 (Savings & Loan Commissioner of Texas v. First Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n) 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
Savings & Loan Commissioner of Texas v. First Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n, 434 S.W.2d 883, 1968 Tex. App. LEXIS 2583 (Tex. Ct. App. 1968).

Opinions

O’QUINN, Justice.

This appeal is from judgment of the trial court setting aside an order of the Savings and Loan Commissioner approving the location in San Marcos of a branch office by the Austin Savings and Loan Association.

Austin Savings and Loan Association, with its principal office in Austin, made application to establish a branch office in San Marcos, Hays County, on May 29, 1967. Appellees in this cause filed protests with the Commissioner. The appellees, in addition to First Federal Savings and Loan of San Marcos, are Seguin Savings Association in Guadalupe County, First Federal Savings and Loan Association of New Braunfels in Comal County, Lockhart Savings and Loan Association in Caldwell County, and Gonzales Savings and Loan Association in Gonzales County.

The Commissioner conducted a hearing August 1, 1967, and on August 16 entered an order granting the application of Austin Savings and Loan to place a branch office at 208 West San Antonio Street in San Marcos.

Appellees filed their original petition in district court of Travis County, complaining of the Commissioner’s order, on October 6, 1967. Trial was held February 23, March 6 and March 8, 1968. The trial court on March 13, 1968, entered judgment holding the order of the Commissioner not reasonably supported by substantial evidence, and remanded the proceeding to the Commissioner.

Appellants Austin Savings and Loan and the Commissioner timely filed motions for new trial in March. The trial court on April 24, 1968, overruled both motions. Appellants requested findings of fact and conclusions of law of the trial court, but no findings and conclusions were filed.

The Commissioner and Austin Savings and Loan on appeal present five points of error. Three points are directed to the action of the trial court in setting aside the order of the Commissioner. The fourth point is that the trial court erred in not admitting into evidence certain exhibits offered by appellants. The fifth point pertains to failure of the trial court to file findings of fact and conclusions of law.

We reverse the judgment of the trial court and sustain the order of the Commissioner.

Approval by the Commissioner of an application to establish a branch office requires the same affirmative findings under the provisions of the savings and loan statute that are required for approval of a charter. Southwestern Savings and Loan Association of Houston v. Falkner, 160 Tex. 417, 331 S.W.2d 917; Benson v. San Antonio Savings and Loan Association, 374 S.W.2d 423 (Tex.1963).

Sec. 2.08 of Article 852a, Vernon’s Ann. Tex.Civ.Sts., effective January 1, 1964, provides that the Commissioner shall not approve a charter unless he finds affirmatively, along with other findings, that:

“(3) there is a public need for the proposed association and the volume of [885]*885business in the community in which the proposed association will conduct its business is such as to indicate profitable operation;
“(4) the operation of the proposed association will not unduly harm any existing association.” Article 852a, sec. 2.08, subsecs. (3), (4).

Under chapter 2.4 of the rules and regulations established by the Building and Loan Section of the Finance Commission of Texas, the Commissioner must approve an application for a branch office if he finds affirmatively that:

“(a) the aggregate amount of the loss reserves, surplus and Permanent Reserve Fund stock, if any, of the applying association is equal to three per cent (3%) of its savings liability;
(b) the applying association has had a profitable operation for the three year period next preceding the filing of such application after paying operating expense, making statutory allocations to loss reserves and paying dividends on savings accounts out of its earnings during such period;
(c) the applying association has had no serious supervisory problems which would affect its ability to properly operate such office;
(d) the proposed operation will not unduly harm any other association operating in the vicinity of the proposed location ;
(e) a separate enclosed office area will be provided (such enclosure may be by counters or railings of less than ceiling height);
(f) the proposed location of the additional office is within the same county as the principal or home office of the applying association except in cases where it appears that the proposed additional office is to be in a different county from that in which the principal or home office of the applying association is located and there is no other association, either State or Federal, adequately serving the community in which such additional office is to be located;
(g) the proposed branch office will be supervised by qualified full time management;
(h) there is a public need for the proposed branch office and the volume of business in the community in which the proposed branch office will conduct its business is such as to indicate a profitable operation to the association within a reasonable period of time.”

The Commissioner, in his order of August 16, 1967, found affirmatively on all standards required under the statute and the rules stated.

Appellees on appeal state they “* * * are persuaded that the affirmative findings of the Commissioner in this case with regard to public need, profitable operation, undue harm and adequate service are without reasonable support in substantial evidence.”

But in their brief appellees “ * * * limit their discussion * * * to the Commissioner’s affirmative finding that operation of the branch office applied for will not unduly harm any other association operating in the vicinity of the proposed branch office because the evidence relevant to this finding most compellingly and most persuasively demonstrates that the Commissioner acted arbitrarily and without regard to the facts in granting * * * ” Austin Savings and Loan permission to establish a branch office in San Marcos.

Appellees argue that the statutory rule requiring the Commissioner to find that undue harm will not result from the granting of an additional facility means that no new facility can be authorized if the result will be “ * * * to cause an existing association to operate at so serious a loss that its ability to make its governmentally [886]*886required reserves and its very existence are critically imperiled.”

This contention is based on evidence of difficulties experienced by First Federal Savings and Loan of San Marcos for about 18 months immediately prior to the hearing before the Commissioner in August, 1967. The operating statement of First Federal of San Marcos, furnished in evidence, shows that for the six months ending June 30, 1966, the association suffered an operating deficit of $2,937. In the last six months of 1966 the association had an operating deficit of $2,993. For the last six months of the 18-month period, ending June 30, 1967, the operating deficit was $5,904.

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

Related

Next Generation, Inc. v. Wal-Mart, Inc.
49 S.W.3d 860 (Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 2000)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
434 S.W.2d 883, 1968 Tex. App. LEXIS 2583, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/savings-loan-commissioner-of-texas-v-first-federal-savings-loan-assn-texapp-1968.