Smallwood v. Singer

823 S.W.2d 319, 1991 WL 253368
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJanuary 22, 1992
Docket6-91-019-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 823 S.W.2d 319 (Smallwood v. Singer) 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
Smallwood v. Singer, 823 S.W.2d 319, 1991 WL 253368 (Tex. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

OPINION

GRANT, Justice.

J. Porter Smallwood and his wife, Wanda Lou Smallwood, appeal from a judgment in favor of Josephine Singer. The judgment was based upon a promissory note and is in the amount of $119,955.40.

The Smallwoods bring nineteen points of error on appeal contending that the trial court erred in submitting an issue of waiver to the jury because there was no evidence or insufficient evidence to support that submission, in entering a judgment based on the jury’s finding on waiver, in failing to enter a judgment for the Small-woods on the jury’s findings on fraudulent representation, in failing to submit an issue on exemplary damages, in failing to submit various other issues ánd instructions to the jury, in awarding judgment for interest on the entire note, in not crediting the Small-woods with interest paid on the note, in not crediting the Smallwoods with all payments made on the note in accordance with jury findings and undisputed evidence, and in entering judgment for Singer.

Singer has brought one cross-point on appeal. She contends that some of the deductions from the unpaid balance of the note were unwarranted and that the record is devoid of any evidence that the stock of R.C. Singer, Inc. did not have a value of $344,978 at the time of sale. Because of the jury’s finding on waiver, she contends she is entitled to the entire amount of the note with interest, less $27,211, which she *321 acknowledges should be subtracted from the total.

Josephine Singer brought a suit on a promissory note against the Smallwoods. This note arose out of a contract by which the Smallwoods purchased stock in R.C. Singer, Inc. R.C. Singer and wife, Josephine Singer, owned all 403 shares of the stock of R.C. Singer, Inc. and sold them to J. Porter Smallwood and Leland North. (Prior to the filing of the lawsuit, North sold his 201 shares to J. Porter Smallwood. North was initially a party to the suit as a signatory on the note, but he was later dismissed from the suit because he had gone into bankruptcy.) Prior to the closing, R.C. Singer had furnished the Small-woods a handwritten statement showing that the book value of the corporation was $344,978. The Smallwoods paid $99,978 in cash and executed a note for the remaining $245,000. The note payments were for twenty-eight months. When the Small-woods stopped making payments, the Singers foreclosed on the chattel mortgage. 1 When suit was instituted on the note, the Smallwoods pled failure of consideration. The Smallwoods also asserted that R.C. Singer had misused funds from the business while he was serving in a managerial capacity after the sale to the Smallwoods. R.C. Singer died during the suit, and Josephine continued to prosecute the suit as the surviving payee on the note.

The jurors found that R.C. Singer wrongfully misused funds from the business. They further found that R.C. Singer made a misrepresentation prior to the sale, but they also found that the Smallwoods had waived their rights to damages brought about by the misrepresentation.

We shall first address the Smallwoods’ contention that there was no evidence to support the finding of a waiver and that the trial court erred in submitting the issue to the jury and in entering judgment based upon that finding.

In reviewing no evidence points, the court considers only the evidence tending to support the finding, viewing it in the light most favorable to the finding, giving effect to all reasonable inferences therefrom, and disregarding all contrary and conflicting evidence: Glover v. Texas General Indemnity Co., 619 S.W.2d 400 (Tex.1981).

The jury made an affirmative finding on the following jury question:

Do you find from a preponderance of the evidence that after being aware of the false representations made by R.C. Singer inquired about in Question 1, Small-wood and North treated the note as a valid obligation and knowingly gave up their right to question its validity?

There was evidence that the Smallwoods continued to make payments on the note even after they had been sent monthly statements reflecting that the book value of the corporation was not the amount represented to them prior to the purchase.

If the failure of consideration, or what might be characterized as a failure of partial performance, 2 is a material breach of contract, the other party has a right to sue for a total breach or to elect to continue performance and sue for a partial breach. See J. Calamari & J. Perillo, The Law of Contracts § 169 (1970). Thus, the continued payment of the note payment indicated an election to continue performance and what was waived was the right to rescind. See Wichita Engineering Co. v. Boy J. Heyne Machine Co., 200 S.W.2d 685 (Tex.Civ.App. — Fort Worth 1947, no writ). However, a waiver of the right to rescind an agreement does not waive or defeat the right to recover damages for the other party's failure to perform. Taub v. Woodruff, 134 S.W. 750 (Tex.Civ.App.1910, no writ); Bounds v. Hickerson, 26 Tex.Civ.App. 608, 63 S.W. 887 (1901, no writ).

The Smallwoods’ pleadings are somewhat confusing as to the relief *322 sought. At one point in the pleadings, they pled that the fraud constituted “a complete and total failure of consideration and said failure renders the sale null and void.” They also contended that they were entitled to recover the excess of the amount paid over and above the book value of the assets of R.C. Singer, Inc. A party who is injured by fraud may elect to accept the situation and recover damages, or he may repudiate the transaction and seek restoration of the status quo in an action to rescind. However, a party cannot do both under the doctrine of election of remedies. Burroughs Corp. v. Farmers Dairies, 538 S.W.2d 809 (Tex.Civ.App. — El Paso 1976, writ ref’d n.r.e.). A study of the Small-woods’ pleadings and the special issues offered to the jury suggests that they elected to seek damages under the terms of the contract. These damages could not be waived by making payment under the terms of the contract and note, and the making of payments amounts to no evidence of waiver.

Singer cites cases in which there were note renewals to support their contention of waiver. Gaylord Container Division v. H. Rouw Co., 392 S.W.2d 118 (Tex.1965); Hunter v. Lanius, 82 Tex. 677,18 S.W. 201 (1892); Culver v. Haggard, 270 S.W. 846 (Tex.Comm’n App.1925, judgm’t adopted). The present case, however, is not a situation where the parties, after becoming aware of the fraud perpetrated on them in a prior transaction, executed a renewal of their obligation. See B & R Development v. Rogers,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
823 S.W.2d 319, 1991 WL 253368, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/smallwood-v-singer-texapp-1992.