Teel v. Teel

141 S.W.2d 755, 1940 Tex. App. LEXIS 490
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 4, 1940
DocketNo. 3677
StatusPublished

This text of 141 S.W.2d 755 (Teel v. Teel) 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
Teel v. Teel, 141 S.W.2d 755, 1940 Tex. App. LEXIS 490 (Tex. Ct. App. 1940).

Opinion

O’QUINN, Justice.

This is a suit in trespass to try title to 100 acres of land situated in Van Zandt County, Texas, brought by J. S. Teel against S. M. Teel and his wife, lone Teel, to recover the title and possession, of said land. Appellants answered by general demurrer, general denial and plea of not guilty. The case was tried to a jury, but at the close of the evidence both parties filed motion for an instructed verdict. Ap-pellee’s motion was granted, and, in accordance with such instruction, the jury returned a verdict for appellee, and judgment was entered in his favor for the title and possession of the land. From that judgment this appeal was taken.

It was agreed that one J. W. Hubbard was the common source of title. Plaintiff, appellee, offered in evidence a deed from Hubbard, the common source, to S. M. Teel, dated November 12, 1917, which deed retained a vendor’s lien on the land conveyed to secure the payment of a purchase money note in the sum of $2,800, dated November 12, 1917, executed by S. M. Teel, and payable to J. W. Hubbard on December 1, 1917. Appellee also offered in evidence a deed of trust of date October 19, 1928, covering the land, executed by S. M. Teel and his wife, lone Teel, to E. H. White, trustee, for the benefit of appellee, which recited that appellee was the owner and holder of four vendor’s lien notes, three for the sum of $200 each, and one for $334.40, due respectively on October 19, 1929, 1930, 1931, and 1932, given in renewal and extension of the balance due and unpaid on said $2,800 note, said renewal and extension being granted at the request of appellants. Appellee then offered in evidence a general warranty deed of date November 23, 1933, from appellants to him conveying the land involved, reciting as its consideration the four vendor’s lien notes given by appellants in renewal and extension of the original note given in part payment for the land, mentioned above, of which four notes appel-lee was the owner and holder.

Appellants contend, and it is their sole contention, that the deed of November 23, 1933, executed for the recited consideration of their- four notes given in extension and renewal of the original vendor’s lien note, was intended as a mortgage to secure the payment of the four notes mentioned, and that there was a contemporaneous agreement between the grantors (appellants), and the grantee (ap-pellee) that at any time within five years from the date of the deed, the grantors [756]*756could repurchase the land by paying to' appellee the amount of the notes. Appellant contends that the deed was not intended to be a mortgage to secure the payment of the vendor’s lien notes, but that the deed was understood to be and was executed in consideration of the cancellation and discharge of the said notes; that he accepted the deed as payment of and in discharge of said notes, and no longer claimed anything by reason of .the notes, but claimed and held the land in full payment of same. Appellee was called as a witness by appellants, and among other things, he testified:

■ “Q. The matter was finally paid off down to these four notes that is mentioned in this instrument (the deed) ? A. Yes, sir.
“Q. And they have not been paid off? A. No, sir.
“Q. They are still due and payable? A. Yes, sir.
“Q. And you still hold the notes? A. Yes, sir.
* * *
“Q. At the time you took the deed you took it to secure you in the payment of the notes, didn’t you? A. Sure.
“Q. You held the deed for that purpose? A. Yes, sir.
“Q. And those notes — do you mind if I see them? A. Sure (handing the notes to counsel).
“Q. These are the four notes mentioned in the deed? A. Yes.
“Q. You still hold these, and have ever since they were made to you? A. Yes, sir.
“Q. They were originally made to Teel Brothers, but after the brother’s death, they became your property? A. Yes, sir.
“Q. You have" held those since they were made? A. Yes, sir.
“Q. And you still hold them? A. Yes, sir.
“Q. And they are still due and unpaid? A. Yes, sir.”
On cross-examination, among other things, he testified:
“Q. Who drew this deed? A. I understood that Tom Hubbard drew it.
“Q. Why did he draw the deed? A. To redeem those notes.
“Q. Did you accept this deed then when they brought it back to you and place it of record? A. Yes, sir.
“Q. In cancellation of the notes you had? A. Yes, sir.
* * *
“Q. This is the deed that they gave you to secure your notes on the land? A. To pay those notes.
“Q. If they ever paid the notes, the land was going back to them, and if they didn’t, you got the land; that was the five year agreement? A. Hów is that?
“Q. They gave you this deed reciting those notes, and if they didn’t pay you the notes, you got the land? A. No, sir.
“Q. What was the five year agreement, what was that for? A. After they mailed me this — mailed my papers back, Shady came up there, he was calling on me to furnish him some money. I said ‘Shady’—
“Q. Wait a minute. I didn’t ask you about that. ■ What was that five year agreement that you had in there; what was that? A. If he paid me the money back I had in that deed, I was going to deed it back.”

He further testified that after he got the deed that he told appellant S. M. Teel that he (appellee) did not want the land, and that he was going to rent the land to him (S. M. Teel) and that if he (S. M. Teel) would get up the money that he owed on the notes within five years and pay it to him, that he woulcl deed the land back to him; that he did rent the land to appellant and received the rent regularly for same.

When appellant, S. M. Teel, was testifying, he was asked by counsel for appellants relative to the deed in question, “What was the purpose of that deed?” Counsel for appellee objected to the question for the reason that the deed showed on its face what it was, recited its contractual consideration, and that it could not be varied by any oral agreement or evidence made prior to its execution. To this objection counsel for appellants replied that parol testimony was admissible to show the true consideration for and the nature of the instrument. The court sustained the objection. The witness (ap-pellee) further testified that after he got the deed that he told appellant (S. M. Teel) that he did not want the land, and that he was going to rent the land to him, and that if he would get up the money that he owed on the notes within five years that he (appellee) would deed the land bade to him; that he did rent the land [757]*757to appellant, and received the rent regularly for .same.

Appellant S. M. Teel testified that he and his family had occupied the land involved for some twenty-one years as their homestead; that he and his wife executed the deed to appellee under which he claims title to the land.

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

Related

King v. Hill
136 S.W.2d 632 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1940)
Mann v. Falcon
25 Tex. 271 (Texas Supreme Court, 1860)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
141 S.W.2d 755, 1940 Tex. App. LEXIS 490, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/teel-v-teel-texapp-1940.