Wooten v. Chaney

105 S.W.2d 510, 1937 Tex. App. LEXIS 1002
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 28, 1937
DocketNo. 10008.
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 105 S.W.2d 510 (Wooten v. Chaney) 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
Wooten v. Chaney, 105 S.W.2d 510, 1937 Tex. App. LEXIS 1002 (Tex. Ct. App. 1937).

Opinion

SLATTON, Justice.

J. O. Wooten filed suit against A. J. Chaney and wife, May R. Chaney, Mabel Chaney, and the First State Bank & Trust Company of Mission, Tex.

The trial petition was in two counts: In the first it is alleged that on or about the 25th day of March, 1931, A. J. Chaney and May R. Chaney executed and delivered to J. O. Wooten three promissory notes in the principal sum of $1,528.45 each, payable one, two, and three years after date, and given as part of the purchase price of the north 12.2 acres of the south 24.39 acres of lot No. 10, and the east 3.78 acres of lot *511 No. 9, in section No. 268 of the Texas-Mexican Railway Company’s surveys in Hidalgo county; that said notes were past due and unpaid, except $905 paid on the 10th day of February, 1932; that Mabel Chaney and the bank were claiming an interest in the real estate; that if superior liens were found by the court against said land, an offer to do equity; praying for judgment for debt and for foreclosure of the lien, etc.

The second count alleged ownership of said three promissory notes, and that said notes were second and inferior to four notes in the principal sum of $152.44, which were held by Sadie J. Love, a feme sole; that A. J. Chaney, May R. Chaney, Mabel Chaney, and the bank entered into a conspiracy to defraud J. O. Wooten and render his second lien against the land unenforceable; and that pursuant to such scheme and conspiracy the bank procured the legal title to the first lien notes; procured the resignation of the trustee named in a deed of trust securing the first lien notes; procured the appointment of a substitute trustee, and h.ad the land sold on the May sales’ day, 1935. That notice of such sale was not posted as required by law, and the holder of the second lien notes not notified. That said land at the time of the trustee’s sale had a fair market value of $6,000; that the consideration for the trustee’s sale was grossly inadequate. Many other allegations were made not necessary to here state.

The Chaneys answered by general demurrer and general denial, the bank, by^ general demurrer, special exceptions, and general denial, and specially denied the entry of it into a conspiracy; that long prior to the sale of the property involved the bank acquired the four vendor’s lien notes, together with the deed of trust securing the payment of same; that said, notes were past due; that the original trustee named in the deed of trust being dead, the bank, as owner and holder of the notes, appointed J. E. Wilkins as substitute trustee; that the property was sold by the substitute trustee and purchased by the bank on the 7th day of May, 1935; and shortly thereafter said property was sold to Mabel Chaney.

The cause was tried to a jury and submitted on special issues, and in response to the special issues the jury found: First, that the reasonable market value of the land in question on May 7, 1935, was $2,500; second, that the appellees, First State Bank & Trust Company of Mission, Tex., A. J. Chaney, May R. Chaney, and Mabel Chaney, did not enter into a conspiracy, as the term was defined by the court, to render unenforceable the second lien against the property in question; third, that the bank and A. J. Chaney did not enter into a conspiracy to render unenforceable the second lien against the property; fourth, that A. J. Chaney, May R. Chaney, and Mabel Chaney did not enter into a conspiracy to render unenforceable the second lien against the property; and, fifth, that Mabel Chaney did not hold the title to the property in question as trustee for May R. Chaney and A. J. Chaney.

Upon these findings the court entered judgment in favor of J. O. Wooten against A. J. Chaney and May R. Chaney upon the notes sued on by Wooten, but denied foreclosure, and entered judgment in favor of Mabel Chaney and the First State Bank & Trust Company of Mission, Tex., in so far as the foreclosure of Wooten’s asserted lien. Appellant, J. O. Wooten, brings the case here.

By the first proposition the appellant asserts that the court erred in overruling appellant’s motion for judgment for the reason that the undisputed evidence in the case shows that the actual consideration paid for the tract of land at the trustee’s sale in question was at most only $170, and grossly inadequate; that the bank had purchased the first lien notes at the request of one of the makers, A. J. Chaney, and had, on the day after the sale, conveyed the property to A. J. Chaney’s daughter, Mabel Chaney; that appellant had no notice of the sale, and had offered to pay off and discharge the amount of the first lien; that under these facts he was entitled to have foreclosure of his second lien notes as a matter of law.

It appears that in 1931 the appellant, J. O. Wooten, sold the land in question to A. J. Chaney and his wife, May R. Chaney, and in the conveyance to the Chaneys they assumed and agreed to pay off and discharge six first vendor’s lien notes, in the principal sum of $152.44 each; said notes being payable to the order of Sadie J. Love; and the Chaneys executed and delivered their three notes, in the principal sum of $1,528.45 each, to J. O. Wooten.

It appears that early in the year 1935 A. J. Chaney requested Mr. B. F. McKee, who was an officer of the First State Bank & Trust Company of Mission, to purchase the unpaid first lien notes from Sadie J. Love. The bank purchased such notes from Miss *512 Love for $664.63 some time in March, 1935. It appears that A. J. Chaney expected some returns from the sale of fruit in the spring or summer of 1935. The first lien notes were transferred at the time of purchase to the bank, and it appears that the trustee named in the deed of trust was deceased, and that the bank had appointed J. E. Wilkins as substitute trustee, and requested that the property be sold to satisfy the notes, which was done on the 7th day of May, 1935. The bank purchased the property at such sale, for a consideration in the amount of the notes being $676.54. It appears that Miss Mabel Chaney went to. the bank and requested that such property be sold to her, and the bank agreed to sell the same to her for whatever they had in the property, together with interest for the detention of the money. The conveyance was made to Mabel Chaney on the 8th day of May, 1935. We will not encumber the record with a recitation of all the evidence. It is sufficient to say that there is evidence which, in our opinion, would support the finding of a conspiracy and there is also evidence to negative the showing of a conspiracy, and in this state of the record it was the duty of the trial court to submit the issue of conspiracy to the jury, which he did, and upon the negative finding to such question of conspiracy by the jury the trial court, as well as this court, is bound.

As an authority for his position, the appellant cites us the case of Kerr v. Henderson (Tex.Civ.App.) 13 S.W.(2d) 227, as well as other cases. We have examined all authorities cited by appellant, and are of the opinion that they do not sustain his position here. In the Kerr Case, supra, the conclusion upon the undisputed facts was inescapable that the parties were colluding for the purpose of rendering unenforceable second liens. The evidence in the case at bar is sufficient, we think, to sustain the jury finding and to negative the issue of collusion or conspiracy, and in that state of the record the negative finding by the jury is binding upon us.

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

Related

Airline Motor Coaches, Inc. v. Owens
199 S.W.2d 802 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1947)
Airline Motor Coaches, Inc. v. McCormick
186 S.W.2d 689 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1945)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
105 S.W.2d 510, 1937 Tex. App. LEXIS 1002, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wooten-v-chaney-texapp-1937.