Valdina Farms, Inc. v. Brown, Beasley & Associates, Inc.

733 S.W.2d 688, 1987 Tex. App. LEXIS 8027
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 30, 1987
Docket04-85-00544-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 733 S.W.2d 688 (Valdina Farms, Inc. v. Brown, Beasley & Associates, Inc.) 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
Valdina Farms, Inc. v. Brown, Beasley & Associates, Inc., 733 S.W.2d 688, 1987 Tex. App. LEXIS 8027 (Tex. Ct. App. 1987).

Opinion

OPINION

DIAL, Justice.

Valdina Farms, Inc., brought suit to enjoin Brown, Beasley & Associates, Inc. (Brown, Beasley) and The Travelers Insurance Company (Travelers) from presenting a letter of credit for payment. Valdina Farms further alleged Travelers fraudulently forced Valdina Farms into a forfeiture of earnest money. Travelers and Brown, Beasley counterclaimed to recover under the letter of credit and for attorney’s fees. The trial court denied Valdina Farms’ requested relief, dissolved the temporary restraining order, and entered judgment that Travelers and Brown, Beasley recover $227,330.00 earnest money, but denied them recovery of attorney’s fees.

On May 3, 1984, Valdina Farms obtained a written loan commitment from Travelers through Brown, Beasley (Travelers’ loan correspondent) in the amount of $12,000,-000.00. The loan commitment was scheduled to expire August 1, 1984. Valdina Farms agreed to provide $240,000.00 (two percent of the loan commitment) as earnest money, which would be refunded to Valdi-na Farms on the closing of the loan or on the inability of Valdina Farms to sell certain of its assets. If Valdina Farms otherwise failed or refused to close the loan, Valdina Farms was to forfeit the $240,-000.00. Valdina Farms issued an irrevocable commercial letter of credit payable to Brown, Beasley in the amount of $240,-000.00.

The loan commitment was conditioned on Valdina Farms’ selling two real estate assets in order to reduce its overall debt and on Valdina Farms’ delivery to Travelers of a first lien on a 17,146.004 acre ranch located in Uvalde and Medina Counties. Valdi-na Farms was required to sell 454 acres of its land in Bexar County for $35,600,000.00 (through its affiliate, Retama Development *690 Corporation) and certain oil, gas, and mineral interests for $65,000,000.00 (through Retamco, Inc.). The loan commitment provided:

This Commitment is subject to these sales being consumated [sic] and the overall liabilities of Gose properties being greatly reduced. Therefore, if at the time of closing of this loan these transactions have not been consumated [sic] or progressed to a point that is satisfactory to The Travelers Insurance Company, the Commitment will be null and void. Should The Travelers Insurance Company decline to close the loan because of these requirements not being satisfactory to them, the Earnest Money Deposit will be refunded less actual expenses.

Valdina Farms was unable to secure a first lien on the ranch property for Travelers. Included in the land to be attached were 890 “excess acres.” 1 Valdina Farms was legally unable to grant a lien on the excess acres. Furthermore, Valdina Farms had no clear title to the remaining acres of the ranch, title still being vested in the previous owners.

On June 25, 1984, Travelers informed Valdina Farms that before it would close the loan, it would require Valdina Farms’ parent company, Cíbolo Properties, Inc., and Cibolo’s chief executive officer, Steve Gose, to be included as makers of the loan. Further, Travelers reduced the loan commitment from $12,000,000.00 to $11,366,-500.00 to adjust for the excess acreage problem. Travelers was willing to accept a lien on all but the 890 acres of the ranch. The day before the closing date, July 31, 1984, Valdina Farms wrote to Travelers stating that the new requirements were unacceptable, that other conditions of the loan commitment had not been met, and that Valdina Farms would therefore not close the loan.

Travelers notified Valdina Farms by letter dated August 1,1984, that it waived the joinder of Cíbolo and that the sales of the other properties had sufficiently progressed and that Travelers would close the loan.

Valdina Farms refused to close the loan, claiming it was impossible for it to provide the first lien and because Travelers did not waive the new conditions until it knew Val-dina Farms could not consummate the loan. Travelers presented the letter of credit for payment, claiming Valdina Farms defaulted on the loan commitment. Valdina Farms claims it has not forfeited the $240,-000.00 earnest money and is liable to Travelers pursuant to the loan commitment to pay only the legal expenses incurred by Brown, Beasley in connection with the loan commitment.

The trial court entered a temporary injunction prohibiting Travelers and Brown, Beasley from presenting the letter of credit for payment. After trial on the merits, the trial court entered a directed verdict in which it dissolved the temporary restraining order, denied Valdina Farms' request for a permanent injunction, and entered judgment for Travelers and Brown, Beasley to recover $227,330.00 2 on the letter of credit. Valdina Farms, as well as Travelers and Brown, Beasley, appeal the judgment of the trial court.

Appellant, Valdina Farms, complains the trial court erred in removing the case from the jury because there was evidence which presented a fact question on the following issues: That Travelers committed an anticipatory breach of the loan commitment by unilaterally reducing the amount of the loan from $12,000,000.00 to $11,366,500.00 and by requiring Cibolo Properties, Inc. to *691 sign the note; and that Travelers engaged in fraudulent conduct by waiting until it knew Valdina Farms was unable to provide a first lien before waiving additional requirements and by presenting the letter of credit for collection on the basis that Valdi-na Farms had defaulted under the terms of the loan commitment.

A party is entitled to a directed verdict when reasonable minds can draw only one conclusion from the evidence, otherwise the issue must go to the jury. We must determine whether there is any evidence of probative force to raise a fact issue on the material question presented. In making this determination we must consider all of the evidence in the light most favorable to the party against whom the verdict was instructed and discard all contrary evidence and inferences. Jones v. Tarrant Utility Co., 638 S.W.2d 862, 865 (Tex.1982); Collora v. Navarro, 574 S.W.2d 65, 68 (Tex. 1978).

Charles Hatch, Manager of Real Estate Affairs for Valdina Farms and its affiliates, testified that in 1980, Steve Gose, Jr., acquired the Valdina Farms land from Governor Dolph Briscoe and R. J. Nunley and shortly thereafter transferred it to Retam-co, Inc. In 1983 it was transferred to another corporation by the name of Valdina Farms, Inc. Later that same year, the property was reconveyed to Governor Bris-coe and R.J. Nunley due to Valdina Farms’ inability to make the payment due under the contract. Valdina Farms received a contract for deed on the property from Governor Briscoe after this final reconveyance. Valdina Farms was unable to keep up the payments under the contract for deed. In an attempt to keep the ranch Valdina Farms sought the multimillion dollar loan through Brown, Beasley.

Robert E. Wehmeyer, Jr., attorney for Brown, Beasley and Travelers, testified that Valdina Farms represented they held the title to the property to be used as security for the loan.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
733 S.W.2d 688, 1987 Tex. App. LEXIS 8027, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/valdina-farms-inc-v-brown-beasley-associates-inc-texapp-1987.