Teresa Ward Cooper v. Blue Water Shores Property Owners' Association

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: August 8, 2024
• Docket: 02-24-00028-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

In the Court of Appeals Second Appellate District of Texas at Fort Worth ___________________________ No. 02-24-00028-CV ___________________________

TERESA WARD COOPER, Appellant

V.

BLUE WATER SHORES PROPERTY OWNERS’ ASSOCIATION, Appellee

On Appeal from the County Court at Law Hood County, Texas Trial Court No. C08913

Before Bassel, Womack, and Wallach, JJ. Memorandum Opinion by Justice Wallach MEMORANDUM OPINION

Teresa Ward Cooper appeals from a summary judgment for Blue Water Shores

Property Owners’ Association. In two issues, she argues that the summary judgment

was void ab initio and that the trial court violated her right to due process. We affirm.

Background

Cooper initially filed a petition in the justice of the peace court in Hood

County, Texas. She sought to compel Blue Water Shores to allow her access to copies

of its books and records, and she also sought a recount of a vote for Blue Water

Shores’ officers. See Tex. Prop. Code Ann. § 209.0057. She later amended her petition

to bring additional claims.1 The justice court rendered a take-nothing summary

judgment for Blue Water Shores, and Cooper appealed that ruling to the county court

on August 14, 2023. The justice court’s file was transmitted to the county court clerk,

who file-stamped it on August 16, 2023.

Blue Water Shores filed another motion for summary judgment in the county

court, contending that Cooper had no standing because she had failed to show that

she owned property within the subdivision that would entitle her to membership in

Blue Water Shores and, thus, the relief for which she sued. The county court granted

a take-nothing summary judgment for Blue Water Shores, and Cooper appealed.

1 This Plaintiff’s First Amended Petition is included in the clerk’s record under the Tab entitled “Small Claims File Part 2,” with the other records of the justice court that were file-stamped August 16, 2023, by the county court clerk.

2 Analysis

Cooper’s appellate issues are based on a single premise: that the county court

was without jurisdiction to render summary judgment on October 12, 2023, because

at that time it had not received every document that had been filed in the justice

court––most importantly, her first amended petition. Even if the appellate record

does not contradict Cooper’s assertion that the justice court failed to immediately

send every “paper[] in the case” to the county court clerk,2 her jurisdiction argument

fails. See Greer v. JP Morgan Mortg. Acquisition Corp., No. 14-21-00583-CV, 2023 WL

2659099, at *3 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] Mar. 28, 2023, pet. denied) (mem.

op.); Imperial Motor Sales Co. v. Brannon, 217 S.W. 761, 761 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth

1919, no writ); see also Tex. R. Civ. P. 510.10(a) (providing that justice court’s duty to

forward record does not occur until after “an appeal has been perfected”). And

Cooper did not preserve any due-process complaint based on the justice court’s

alleged failure to transmit a complete record to the county court clerk.

We overrule Cooper’s issues and affirm the trial court’s judgment.

2 In addition to the fact that the first amended petition is included in the clerk’s record with the other justice court documents, Cooper expressly referenced her first amended petition in her special exceptions to Blue Water Shores’ county court motion for summary judgment. Thus, not only was the petition’s existence in light of the summary-judgment proceeding before the county court when it made its ruling, but also the petition is not evidence that Cooper owned property in Blue Water Shores sufficient to show her standing. See Laidlaw Waste Sys. (Dall.), Inc. v. City of Wilmer, 904 S.W.2d 656, 660 (Tex. 1995).

3 /s/ Mike Wallach Mike Wallach Justice

Delivered: August 8, 2024