White v. Hughs

867 S.W.2d 846, 1993 WL 498476
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 30, 1993
Docket06-93-00030-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 867 S.W.2d 846 (White v. Hughs) 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
White v. Hughs, 867 S.W.2d 846, 1993 WL 498476 (Tex. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinions

OPINION

GRANT, Justice.

Tommy White appeals from an adverse judgment in his trespass to try title action against Travis Hughs, individually and on behalf of Jennifer Holly Hughs, a minor, Benny Thompson, and Myrl Wood. He contends that the trial court erred in rendering judgment and in making conclusions of law number six and three because there was no evidence to support the judgment or the conclusions, in admitting testimony contrary to judicial admissions by the appellees, in finding that the contract of sale was terminated for failure to pay 1987 taxes because the undisputed evidence showed that all such payments had been made, in ruling that the cancellation of the contract was improper, in ruling a subsequent conveyance to be valid because it was not supported by the evidence, and in finding that damages and fraud were not supported by the evidence.

On October 24, 1993, Tommy White entered into a contract to purchase a house and lot from Travis Hughs and his now deceased wife, Marsha Hughs. In the contract, White agreed to pay a purchase price of $14,500. The amount of $4,938.02 constituted a purchase of the Hughses’ equity in the property, and the remaining $9,561.98 was the amount remaining on an indebtedness secured by a lien against the property held by State First National Bank. The contract provided that White would pay off the equity in fourteen monthly payments of $400 per month, with a final payment of $428. Simultaneously, White was to tender an additional $225 per month which was to be applied to the monthly payment to State First National Bank. The contract provided that after the Hughs-es’ equity was paid off, the monthly payment would be reduced to $300 per month until the balance of the State First National Bank note was paid off on October 25, 1988. The monthly payment to State First National Bank was $219.77 per month. The contract further provided that “[t]he balance between the amount paid by the Buyer and the amount of the note at State First National [848]*848Bank shall be applied to escrow for taxes and insurance.” The contract named Myrl Wood as the Hughses’ agent to collect all monthly payments.

All parties agree that White paid the entire purchase price for the property as provided for in the contract of sale. There is conflicting testimony about whether he paid the amounts earmarked for the escrow account to pay the 1987 and 1988 taxes. There are no documentary records of the payments. Apparently White paid exclusively in cash, and Myrl Wood, upon the final completion of the sale of this property to another person, destroyed all records of White’s payments.

A document entitled “Amendment to Contract of Sale,” signed by all parties and dated October 15, 1986, reduced the payments due from $300 a month to $250 a month after the Hughses’ equity was paid. The evidence shows that this occurred because the insurance on the property (which to that point had been paid out of escrow by Wood) lapsed, and the amendment to the contract provided that White would provide the insurance on the property. Accordingly, if all payments were made in full, approximately $370 annually would have been deposited in the escrow account for the purpose of paying the property taxes. The evidence indicates that the taxes amounted to approximately $320 annually.

Wood testified that there was insufficient escrow tendered during the last two years of the contract to provide payment of the taxes for 1987 and for ten months of 1988. At Travis Hughs’s direction, Wood paid the 1987 taxes after they became delinquent. Hughs testified that, because the property was in his name, the taxing entities were threatening him with court action and the resultant expenses; therefore, he paid the 1987 taxes in August 1988. After White finished paying the purchase money on the property in October, Hughs had a warranty deed prepared by his attorney, which could be picked up by White at a local title company, upon payment of the amount remaining due. As part of the closing costs, the title company included a title insurance policy and the amount of taxes that had been paid by Hughs for 1987 and the taxes remaining owing for 1988. White took exception to this amount and directed them to delete the title insurance policy, which lowered the remaining amount due to approximately $600, for payment of the taxes. After a discussion with Wood, White agreed to pay out the amounts due in monthly payments from November 1989 to January 1990. However, after that discussion, White did nothing. He neither made the payments as agreed nor again contacted either the title company, Wood, or the Hughses.

After the time for payment had expired in January of 1990, the Hughses declared a default under paragraph five of the agreement1, retook possession of the property, and sold the property for $5,000 to Benny Thompson, another appellee in the present suit.

White brought a trespass to try title action in an effort to show his ownership of title to the property in a trial to the court. The trial court found that, even though White had paid the entire purchase price of the property, he had not fulfilled the terms of the contract because he had refused to pay the taxes on the property. Based upon this fact finding, the trial court determined that White had [849]*849failed to fulfill his burden to show that he had superior title and could not recover under his trespass to try title action.

We first address White’s no evidence contentions: White had the burden of proof; thus, he must show that he proved his case as a matter of law. He must demonstrate that the evidence conclusively established all vital facts in support of the issue. In our review, we employ a two-prong test. First, we examine the record for evidence that supports the finding, ignoring all evidence to the contrary. If there is no evidence to support the finding, we then examine the whole record to determine if the contrary position was established as a matter of law. Sterner v. Marathon Oil Co., 767 S.W.2d 686, 690 (Tex.1989). Since there is evidence to support the finding, we do not reach the second prong of the test.

White contends that the trial court erred in making the following conclusion of law (number three):

White’s refusal to pay 1987 ad valorem taxes and any other taxes due on the subject real property, together with his failure to keep the property and improvements properly insured, constituted a breach and an event of default under the terms and provisions of such Contract of Sale.

The seller’s agent, Myrl Wood, testified that White had failed to pay the escrow amounts for over a year before the taxes came due. There is uneontroverted evidence that the taxes were paid at the direction of and with the money of the seller. There is also some evidence that White failed to insure the property after a policy lapse. This constitutes some evidence in support of the conclusion, and White’s contention fails.

White next contends, that the trial court erred in making conclusion of law number six. This conclusion reads as follows:

White does not have equitable title to maintain an action for trespass to try title in that White did not fully perform under the terms of the Contract of Sale by his failure to pay, when due, the ad valorem taxes referenced above, and further, by his failure to properly insure the subject real property and improvements thereon.

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White v. Hughs
867 S.W.2d 846 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1993)

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Bluebook (online)
867 S.W.2d 846, 1993 WL 498476, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/white-v-hughs-texapp-1993.