Southwestern Investment Co. v. Neeley

412 S.W.2d 925, 1967 Tex. App. LEXIS 2811
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 3, 1967
DocketNo. 16787
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 412 S.W.2d 925 (Southwestern Investment Co. v. Neeley) 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
Southwestern Investment Co. v. Neeley, 412 S.W.2d 925, 1967 Tex. App. LEXIS 2811 (Tex. Ct. App. 1967).

Opinion

[927]*927OPINION

LANGDON, Justice.

This is a suit for conversion of household furniture. The plaintiffs sought actual damages in the sum of $5,000.00 and exemplary damages of $50,000.00 against the appellant and Elbert Brumbelow, a dealer in used furniture. The latter was sued as agent of appellant and individually.

The appellees will hereinafter be referred to by name or as plaintiffs and the appellant as defendant or as SIC.

The case was tried to a jury on special issues in answer to which the jury found that: (1) the plaintiffs’ account with SIC, secured by the two notes and chattel mortgages, was settled and discharged by the plaintiffs by the payment made by check by plaintiffs and accepted by SIC on March 26, 1963. (2) There was a dispute between plaintiffs and SIC over the amount of the debts owing on March 26, 1963, when plaintiffs made the payment of $837.-01. (3) SIC represented to Elbert Brum-below that it had a valid mortgage on plaintiffs’ furniture on or about November 17, 1964. (4) SIC through its actions, if any, authorized Elbert Brumbelow to repossess plaintiffs’ furniture on or about November 17, 1964. (4A) At the time Elbert Brumbelow took possession and control of plaintiffs’ furniture he was relying on SIC’s chattel mortgage. (5) SIC ratified the actions of Elbert Brumbelow in taking the plaintiffs’ furniture on November 17, 1964. (7) On or about November 17, 1964, SIC converted plaintiffs’ furniture. (8) The conversion of plaintiffs’ furniture was done with malice. (10) $700.00 was the reasonable cash market value of plaintiffs’ furniture on or about November 17, 1964. (11) Conditioned on a “yes” answer to special issue No. 8 the jury found that $30,000.00 should be awarded plaintiffs as exemplary damages. In connection with the foregoing special issue the jury was instructed that “exemplary damages” means compensation which may be allowed by the jury in addition to actual damages by way of punishment and as an example for the good of the public, and may also include compensation for inconvenience, reasonable attorney’s fees and other losses too remote to be considered under actual damages. (12) SIC made no mistake in arriving at the payoff figure furnished Mrs. Neeley on or about March 26, 1963.

Based upon the verdict of the jury the court entered judgment for plaintiffs in the sum of $700.00 actual damages and $30,000.-00 exemplary damages.

The appellant bases its appeal upon 44 points of ferror.

We reverse and render.

After the plaintiffs had rested, Brum-below presented his formal motion to be discharged from the proceedings since Mrs. Neeley had testified that she did not have any complaints against him nor had she any complaints against him at the time of the trial. The Court sustained Brumbe-low’s motion. Defendant SIC also made a motion to be dismissed and for an instructed verdict on the same grounds as presented by Elbert Brumbelow. The basis of SIC’s motion was that if the plaintiffs had no complaint against Elbert Brumbe-low, its alleged agent, there would be no basis to impute liability to SIC as principal. That if plaintiffs found nothing wrong with the acts and conduct of its agent, they would have no complaint as against SIC. The court in overruling the latter’s-motion stated “Mr. Brumbelow wasn’t their (SIC’s) agent.” The attorney for plaintiffs in protesting the court’s discharge of Brumbelow from the proceedings stated that in testimony before the court Brumbe-low himself had said that he went out there and took the furniture, sold it, and kept the money. The plaintiffs did not appeal from the action of the court in dismissing Brumbelow from the suit.

On April 26, 1962, the plaintiffs obtained a loan from SIC in connection with which [928]*928they executed a note in the principal sum of $1,490.16, payable in 24 monthly installments of $62.09 each commencing on June 10, 1962. The note was secured by chattel mortgage, signed by them covering items of household furniture and a car.

The plaintiffs made the payments on the note each month from June, 1962 through February, 1963, both inclusive, a total of 9 payments.

In March of 1963, the plaintiffs decided to consolidate some of their debts. A friend had agreed to lend them the money for this purpose. In order to know how much to borrow Mrs. Neeley called the various companies, including SIC to obtain the amount of the balances owed. She talked to some lady at SIC.and requested the amount of the balance due on the two notes (car and furniture). The lady agreed to get the figure. They talked again at which time the lady said the balance was $837.01.

On March 26, 1963, Mrs. Neeley went to the SIC office. She testified that she told the lady she was there to pay off the notes and that according to her figures the amount due should be a little less. She did not offer any explanation other than to say that “enough wasn’t taken off for interest or something but we get a less figure.” She agreed to pay the $837.-01 and said to the lady, “I’ll make it clear to you that I thought it was less than that but I will agree to go ahead and pay that in order to get all of these bills out of the way that we owe.” She then wrote the check for $837.01, and wrote on it, “In full of account.” Mr. Neely offered no testimony as to a dispute over the amount due. The amount due was readily ascertainable. It was a liquidated amount.

Several days later the Neeleys received the title to the car free and clear of any lien. The $837.01 check indorsed by SIC for deposit was honored and paid. Neither the note nor release of the chattel mortgage covering the furniture was ever received by the plaintiffs.

In May or June of 1963 (after the $837-01 check was given to SIC) Mrs. Neeley testified she was contacted by phone on two occasions by someone with SIC and was advised that the amount due on the notes had been misfigured and that plaintiffs still owed, a balance of $62.09. On each occasion Mrs. Neeley advised the person calling that she had her cancelled check showing the account paid in full and, “we owe you no more money.” Neither of the plaintiffs offered any testimony based on facts or figures that they were entitled to credit for another payment of $62.09.

At this point the plaintiffs were on notice that SIC held their note and chattel mortgage and was claiming a balance due of $62.09. Further, that under the chattel mortgage it (SIC) had the right to seize the household furnishings wherever found and to dispose of same with or without notice to them. In spite of this they made no effort to contact SIC to obtain the note or a release of the mortgage or otherwise to settle the matter. Plaintiffs chose to ignore the notice rather than to take necessary steps to protect their interest in the furniture.

Sometime after the loan of April 26, 1962, the plaintiffs, after having resided at several different locations, moved to 4708 Catalina Street in Wichita Falls, Texas, about May of 1964, to a residence they rented from Mr. and Mrs. Sidney K. Lambert at $105.00 per month. Plaintiffs paid the first month’s rent when they moved in and later paid $50.00. They made no additional rental payments. Several days after the first of the month when the rent was due Mr. Lambert went to the house on Catalina. “It looked like they had locked up and gone; the yard was growed up * * A week or two later Mr. Lambert, having received no word from the plaintiffs, returned to the residence and found the Neeleys were still gone.

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Related

Disney Enterprises, Inc. v. Esprit Finance, Inc.
981 S.W.2d 25 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1998)
Cowley v. Page
463 S.W.2d 255 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1971)
Southwestern Investment Company v. Neeley
443 S.W.2d 573 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1969)
Neeley v. Southwestern Investment Company
430 S.W.2d 465 (Texas Supreme Court, 1968)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
412 S.W.2d 925, 1967 Tex. App. LEXIS 2811, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/southwestern-investment-co-v-neeley-texapp-1967.