Sheldon v. Farinacci

535 S.W.2d 938, 1976 Tex. App. LEXIS 2688
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 14, 1976
Docket15529
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 535 S.W.2d 938 (Sheldon v. Farinacci) 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
Sheldon v. Farinacci, 535 S.W.2d 938, 1976 Tex. App. LEXIS 2688 (Tex. Ct. App. 1976).

Opinion

KLINGEMAN, Justice.

This is a suit by appellants, George L. Sheldon and Angilee G. Sheldon, the holders of a judgment against Suniland Corporation, against appellee, Eva E. Farinacci, to satisfy such judgment by foreclosure of a judgment lien against certain real property in Bexar County, Texas. Both appellants and appellee filed motions for summary judgment. The trial court granted appel-lee’s motion for summary judgment that appellants take nothing, and denied appellants’ motion for summary judgment.

The summary judgment evidence, which sets forth the sequence of events upon which this suit is predicated, may be summarized as follows:

1.July 11, 1973 — Recording of deed of subject property from Suniland Corporation to Empress Construction Company.

2. January 29, 1974 — Appellants recover judgment against Suniland Corporation in the amount of $33,446.00.

3. April 29, 1974 — Recording of abstract of appellants’ judgment against Suniland Corporation.

4. November 27, 1974 — Recording of “Correction Deed” from Suniland Corporation to Empress Construction Company.

5. November 27, 1974 — Recording of deed from Empress Construction Company to Eva E. Farinacci.

Appellants assert that their judgment lien had attached to the real property involved prior to the purchase by appellee. Appellants’ entire case is predicated upon their contention that the acknowledgment to the deed recorded July 11, 1973 was fatally defective and that consequently the deed (a) was ineffective to divest Suniland Corporation of any title to the subject property; (b) should not have been recorded; (c) was ineffective to impart constructive notice to a creditor; (d) was improperly admitted as a part of appellee’s summary judgment proof. If such acknowledgment was not fatally defective, but a valid acknowledgment, all of appellants’ contentions must fail.

Appellants assert four points of error: (1) the trial court erred in denying appellants’ motion for summary judgment; (2) the trial court erred in granting appellee’s motion for summary judgment; (3) the trial court erred in finding that the deed from Suni-land Corporation to Empress Construction Company recorded July 11, 1973, imparted constructive notice to creditors and divested Suniland Corporation of title to the subject property; (4) the trial court erred in allowing appellee to use such deed as a part of her summary judgment proof.

Although not assigned as a point of error, appellants make some contention in their brief that the property description in the July 11, 1973 deed was also defective and was inadequate to divest Suniland Corporation of its interest in the property. However, on oral argument, appellant stated that he now believes such description to be *940 adequate, and that he has abandoned any such contention. We will not consider it.

We first consider appellants’ point of error that the court erred in denying their motion for summary judgment. We have heretofore set forth the applicable summary judgment evidence. It is to be noted that nowhere therein is any proof that Suniland Corporation, appellants’ judgment creditor, owned the subject property on the effective date of appellants’ judgment lien, and in fact, nowhere in the record is there any proof that Suniland Corporation ever owned the property. Appellants apparently rely on the deed from Suniland Corporation to Empress Construction Company recorded July 11, 1973, and the “Correction Deed” from Suniland Corporation to Empress Construction Company recorded November 27, 1974, as proof that Suniland Corporation owned such property.

The fact that A gives a deed of conveyance to B of Blackacre, may be effective to divest A of any title that it has in Blackacre, but such a deed of conveyance, in itself, does not prove that A owned Black-acre or any part thereof. In order to show that appellants’ judgment lien attached to the subject property, it was incumbent upon appellants to show that Suniland Corporation owned the property or some interest therein. There is no such proof. Under the record, the trial court did not err in refusing to grant appellants’ motion for summary judgment.

Appellants’ other three points of error are based on their contention that the acknowledgment on the deed of July 11, 1973 was fatally defective, and that consequently their judgment lien had attached to the real property involved prior to the purchase by appellee.

The acknowledgment here involved reads as follows:

The State of Texas
County of Bexar
Before me, the undersigned authority, on this day personally appeared
of SUNILAND CORPORATION, a corporation, known to me to be the person whose name is subscribed to the foregoing instrument, and acknowledged to me that he executed the same for the purposes and consideration therein expressed, in the capacity therein stated and as the act and deed of said corporation.
Given under my hand and seal of office on this the 1st day of June, A.D., 1973.
(Seal)
/s/ Santa Kime_ Notary Public in and for Bexar County, Texas (TR 32)

Appellee asserts that it is the law of this State that in construing an acknowledgment, the instrument to which it is attached may also be considered; that the acknowledgment here involved when considered with the deed to which it was attached is not defective; that the deed was effective to divest Suniland Corporation of whatever interest it had in the subject property; was properly recorded; was effective to give notice to creditors; and was properly admitted into evidence as a part of appellee’s summary judgment proof.

It is obvious from the above set forth acknowledgment that it is not possible to tell who appeared before the notary public without reference to the deed. But by looking at the deed and the acknowledgment together it can be readily ascertained that Adolph Alvarez, the person who signed the deed, is the person who appeared before the notary public, the person who acknowledged that he executed the same for the purposes and considerations therein stated, as the act and deed of said corporation. The grantor shown in the deed is Suniland Corporation, and the only signature on the deed is that of Adolph Alvarez.

Article 6603, Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann., requires that the acknowledgment of an instrument for the purpose of being recorded shall be by the person who executed the same, appearing before some officer authorized to take acknowledgments and stating that he executed the same for the purpose and consideration therein stated.

Article 6626, Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann., requires that all deeds, in order to be recorded, shall have been acknowledged according to law.

*941 Appellants rely heavily on Sweeney v. Vasquez, 229 S.W.2d 96 (Tex.Civ.App.—San Antonio 1950, writ ref’d), in which it was held that a contract of sale and purchase which is not acknowledged by the vendor is not notice to subsequent purchasers even though it was acknowledged by the purchaser and recorded.

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

Related

Whoa USA, Inc. v. Regan Properties, LLC
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2014
In Re Harman
243 B.R. 671 (N.D. Texas, 1999)
Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion
Texas Attorney General Reports, 1988
Opinion No.
Texas Attorney General Reports, 1988
Toot'n Totum Food Stores, Inc. v. Williams
561 S.W.2d 937 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1978)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
535 S.W.2d 938, 1976 Tex. App. LEXIS 2688, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sheldon-v-farinacci-texapp-1976.