Universal Credit Co. v. Boling

103 S.W.2d 253
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 12, 1937
DocketNo. 13518
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 103 S.W.2d 253 (Universal Credit Co. v. Boling) 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
Universal Credit Co. v. Boling, 103 S.W.2d 253 (Tex. Ct. App. 1937).

Opinion

SPEER, Justice.

S. P. Boling instituted a suit in the county court of Young- county against the Universal Credit Company, a foreign corporation having a permit to do business in Texas, to recover the statutory penalty of double the amount of all interest paid by him to defendant on an alleged contract for the loan of money. Vernon’s Ann.Civ.St. art. 5073.

The petition was filed on January 6, 1936, and citation issued returnable to the February term, shown to convene on February 3, 1936. Plaintiff’s allegations show defendant had an agent and representative in Graham, Young county, Tex., upon whom service of citation could be had; that he purchased an automobile from La Sage Motor Company, at Graham, Tex., on June 1, 1934, for which he agreed to pay $752; that he paid $199 at the time' of the purchase; that he borrowed from the defendant the remainder of the purchase money with which to pay La Sage Motor Company in the sum of $553, and defendant purchased and paid for insurance on the automobile, the premium being $18.13, making a total sum owing by plaintiff to defendant of $571.13; that defendant, acting by and through its agent, A. W. Swenson, who is also manager of the La Sage Motor Company at Graham, Texas, required plaintiff to execute his note or conditional sale contract in the sum of $694, payable in sixteen monthly installments, the first fifteen of which were for $30 each and the sixteenth being for $244; that he paid each and all of said installments within the sixteen months provided in the contract, the last payment being made on October 1, 1935. That by the terms of the contract, the plaintiff was required to pay and did pay to the defendant the sum of $122.87 as interest for the use and detention of $571.13 for a period of sixteen months; prayer was for judgment for double the amount of interest alleged to have been paid. •

On February 3, 1936, return day in the cause, defendant filed a motion to quash the citation, and on the same day filed a plea of privilege, which plea was in statutory form (Vernon’s Ann.Civ.St. art. 2007), containing the usual necessary expressions : “That no exception to the exclusive venue in the county of one’s residence provided by law exists in this cause.” And further: “That this suit does not come within any of the exceptions provided by law in such cases authorizing this suit to be brought or maintained in the county of Young, State of Texas, or elsewhere outside of the county of Dallas.”

On February 6, 1936, the plaintiff filed his controverting affidavit to the plea of privilege, which alleged, substantially, as did the petition and refers to and makes the petition a part of the controverting plea.

The time for hearing the plea of privilege was set by the court for February 20, 1936, and notice thereof issued, but the notice was not served in time for the hearing on that date and the court of its own motion without prejudice reset the hearing on the plea for April 6, 1936.

On the last-mentioned date, the court entered an order overruling the motion.to quash citation, and called a hearing on the plea of privilege, all parties appeared and trial was had.. The court overruled plaintiff’s general and special demurrers to the sufficiency of the plea of privilege, and after hearing the evidence adduced, overruled the plea of privilege, from which order this appeal is prosecuted.

There are no assignments of error brought forward for review by us, and under such conditions' we can only consider fundamental errors, if any, appearing in the record. Defendant, the appellant here, recognizes that rule and has offered, in forms of propositions, a number of matters claimed to be fundamental errors, of which it is claimed we should take cognizance.

The propositions proposed by appellant cover such matters as:

When motion to quash citation is timely filed and no action is taken thereon during the term, it is waived and the defendant is [255]*255required to answer at the succeeding term of court.

The filing of motion to quash does not waive the right of a defendant to subsequently file a plea of privilege.

When a motion to quash citation is filed, plea of privilege subsequently filed is not subject to being controverted or considered by the court until the motion to quash is disposed of.

The filing of a plea of privilege deprives the court of jurisdiction to enter any other order in the case than to transfer the cause on the plea, unless a controverting plea is filed in the manner and within the time prescribed by law and a time set for hearing and notice thereof issued and served within the time prescribed by law.

When' a plea of privilege is filed in a capse of action for usury the controverting affidavit must allege a cause of action for usury.

Other propositions were presented concerning the sufficiency of plaintiff’s (ap-pellee’s) petition and controverting affidavit as to agency of the corporation to confer jurisdiction.

The view we take of this appeal renders it unnecessary to discuss at length any of the propositions made by appellant, since we do not consider them pertinent to this type of case and plea of privilege. This being a suit for usury, the statute fixes the venue and it is not controlled by general rules where it is dependent upon proof of facts raised by a controverting plea, but is a question of law requiring no proof. It is determined by the allegations of the petition and a plea of privilege in such cases must negative specifically the allegations in the petition which show venue. In such cases where the plea of privilege contains the statutory allegations only, and does not contain the further denial of the grounds of venue shown by the petition, it is insufficient in law and is subject to general demurrer. A controverting affidavit to a plea is designed to make an issue of fact for venue purposes requiring proof, but if the matter of venue is one of law no such issue is necessary to be made by a controverting affidavit, and it follows that proof of facts to sustain such allegations so made becomes unnecessary.

Rev. Civ. Statutes, art. 1995, provides many exceptions, which, when the facts are shown to exist, confer venue in places other than the residence of a defendant. Subdivision 30 of that article provides: “Whenever in any law authorizing or regulating any particular character of action, the venue is expressly prescribed, the suit shall be commenced in the county to which jurisdiction may be so expressly given.”

Article 5073 provides for actions to recover a penalty for usury and fixes, as a matter of law, where they may be maintained, in this language: “Such action shall be instituted in any court of this State having jurisdiction thereof, in the county of the defendant’s residence, or in the county where such usurious interest shall have been received or collected, or where said contract has been entered into, or where the parties who paid the usurious interest resided when such contract was made.”

The case of Yates et al. v. State et al. (Tex.Civ.App.) 3 S.W.(2d) 114, 117, was a suit instituted by the state in the district court of Travis county for trespass to try title -to lands situated in Pecos county and against persons residing in Pecos county. The defendants filed their plea of privilege alleging the place of their residence and the location of the land.

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Related

Donald v. Agricultural Livestock Finance Corp.
495 S.W.2d 592 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1973)
Cowan v. State
356 S.W.2d 170 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1962)
Fielder v. Parker
119 S.W.2d 1089 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1938)
Universal Credit Co. v. Boling
108 S.W.2d 836 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1937)

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Bluebook (online)
103 S.W.2d 253, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/universal-credit-co-v-boling-texapp-1937.