### TEXA S COU RT O F AP PEAL S, THIR D DISTRIC T, AT AU STIN
NO. 03-01-00022-CV
For d Housing Finance Ser vices d/ b/a Ass ociates

Housing F inanceSer

vices, A ppellant
v. Virgilio P osada, Appellee

FROM THE DISTRICT CO URT OF TRAVIS COUNTY, 200T H JUDICIAL DIST RICT

NO. GN001204, HONORABLE PAUL DAVIS, JUDGE PRESIDING

Vir gilio Posada sued Ford Ho using Fi nan ce Serv ic es d/b/a Associa

tes Housing F in

ance Services (“Fi

nan ce Serv i ce s” ) an

d C orn ers tone Ca pi tal Grou p In c., d/b /a Corn ers tone Hom esof Au st in (“Co rnerstone Homes”) al le gin g vi olations of the Decepti

ve Trade Practices -Consum er Prote cti on Act (DTPA). SeeTex. Bus. & Com . Code An n. §§ 17.41 et seq. (West 1987 & Supp. 2001)
. Af

ter Fi na nc e Serv i ces and Conerstone Hom

es f ail ed to an swe

r the l awsui t, the distri ct court rendered a def aul t ju dgm en t in f av or of Posa

da. Ra i si ng f our iss ue s, Fina nc e S er vic es br ing s t his restricted app eal see king t o r ever se t he de f au l t j udgme

nt. Fi nan ce Servi ces asse rts among other thi ng s th at e rror appe ars on the fac e of the record because (1) the record fai ls to show that Posada st r ict ly com pl i ed wi th the rules of ci vi l procedure regardi

ng serv ic e of ci tation and process, and (2)2

Po sada’s pet itio n failed t o a llege any t ype o f claim or c aus e o f act ion ag ainst Finance S er vices. We wil l reverse the j udgment of the district cour t and remand the cause for further pr oceedings. Backgr ound Posada fi le d hi s origi

nal petition on A

pril 25, 2000, alleging violat ions o f the DT PA. Acco rd ing t o t he pe t itio n, on Fe b ru ar y 12 , 19 98 , Pos ada e x ecute d a con tra ct f or s al e to purchase a used man uf ac ture d home f

rom Corn ers tone Hom es . Pos ada obt ain

ed fi nanci ng for the purchase through Finance S er vices. So on a fte r t he pu rc hase , P os ada disco ver ed t hat t he ho me had many defec ts. In hi s petiti on Posada all eged the f oll owing, Sell er is li able for dec ept ivetrade pract ic es under § 17.46 of t he T exas Bus iness and C omm erce Code (the Dec epti

ve Trade Practi ces -Cons um er Protect[i

on] A ct) f o r fal se, mi sl eadi ng an d decept iv e repr es en t at io ns a s t o t he ch ar ac t er o f t he ho me purchased

by the [buy er]. Inasm

uch as conducto f De fend ant wa s k no wing , P laint iff prays for such pun

iti ve dam ages as are al

lowed b y s tatut e. On Ju ne 7 , 2 00 0, t he d ist ric t co ur t sig ned a d efa ult jud gme nt in fav or o f Posada agains t both Cornerstone Homes an d Fi nan ce Services. The court deter mi ned that Fi

nan ce Services and Cornerstone Homes ha d been p ro per ly served and t hat Po sad a wa s ent itled t o a defau lt jud gment beca use t he def

endan ts f ail ed to an swe

r the l awsui t. The c ourt also det er mined t hat t he allega t ions inthe pe ti

ti on weread m i tted an d th at th e dam ag es werel i qui da

ted an d p roved b y a w ri tte n i n str um en t. The di strict court awarded Posada actual and addi tional damages and atto rney’ s fees. On Jul y 6, 2000, Cornerstone Homes ti me ly fi le d a m oti on for new tria

l a nd ass erted that t he d efa ult ju dgment sho uld be s et aside beca use Co rne rst one Ho mes’s failure t o a nswe r t he3

law su it wa s n

ot i n ten ti on al ; th at i

t cou l d d em on strate a merit or iou s de fense; a nd t hat t her e wo uld be
no del ay or in j ury cau sed by set t ingasi

de th e j udgm

en t. See Craddock v. Sunshine Bus Lines , Inc. , 133 S.W .2d

12 4, 1 26 (Tex . 19 39 ). F ol l owi n g a h ea ri n g, t h e d i str i ct co ur t gr ant ed C one rst one Ho mes ’s mo t io n fo rne w t r ial. Fina nc e S er vic es did no t file a mo t io n fo rne w t r ial.

On Decem ber 5, 20 00 , Fina nc e S er vic es filed a t imely notice of restricted appeal that stated i t di d n ot pa rti ci pa te eithe r in per so n or t hro ugh c ou nsel in the hear ing t hat re sult ed in t he de fau lt judgm

ent nor did it fi

le a tim ely post -judgmen

t mot ion, a request for fi

ndi ngs o f f act and
co nclusio ns of law or a not ice of appeal . Additional ly , Fin ance Services con

te nd ed tha t error appeared on the f

ace of the record. Discussion To succ ee d on

a r est rict ed a ppe al one must sho w: ( 1) t he ap pe al w as br o ug ht wit hin six mont hs o f the dat e t he judg ment w as signe d by t he co ur t , ( 2) by a par t y to t he su it , ( 3) wh o did not par t icipat e in the hea ring t hat re su lt ed in t he ju dg ment co mplain ed o f, (4) err or m us t ap pe ar on t he fa ce o f t he r ec o r d, an d ( 5) t he ap pe llant mus t no t ha ve t imely file d a po st - jud gme nt mo tion , a request for fi

ndi ngs of fact or conclus ions

of law, or a t im

el y n ot ic e of appe al
. SeeTex. Ci

v. Prac. & Rem. Code A

nn . §§ 51.0 12, .013 (We st 1997 ); Tex. R . App. P. 26.1 (c), 30; Norman Communications v. Texas Eastman Co. , 955 S.W.2d 269, 270 (T ex. 199 7) (c iting DSC Fin. Corp.
v. Moffitt , 815 S.W.2d 551, 55 1 (T ex. 1 991 )) ; L.P.D. v. R. C. , 9 59 S .W. 2d 7 28, 729 -3 0 ( Te x. Ap p. —A us t in

199 8, pet . d enied) . A r est rict ed a ppe al affor ds a n app ellant the sam e scope of revi

ew as an ordi na ry appe al —rev i ew of the e nti re ca se. Norman Communications , 955 S.W.2d at 270 . T he1 Posada decl i ne d to fi l e an appe l l ee’ s bri ef

. 4 o nly restr iction is that t he error must ap pe ar on

the f ac e of the re cord. Id. (citi

ng General Elec. Co.
v. FalconRidge Apartm ents , 811 S.W.2d 942, 943 (Te x. 1991 )). The rec or d co nsists of the clerk ’s and th e r ep orter’ s rec ord s a n d al l pa pers f i l ed wi th th e tr i al cou rt. Norman Communicati ons, 955 S.W.2d at 270 (citin

g DSC Fin. Corp. , 81 5 S. W.2d at 551 ); L.P.D. , 959 S.W .2d at 73 0. The r ec o r d e st ab lishe s t ha t Fina nc e S er vic es filed it s r es t r ic ted ap pe al w it hin s ix mont hs o f t he da t e t he dis t r ict co ur t sig ne d t he de fau lt jud gme nt , it did no t pa r t icip at e in t he hear ing that re sult ed in t he de fault judg ment a nd it did no t t imely fil e a p os t -jud gment mot ion, a req ue st f or fi ndi ngsof f ac t an d c onc l us i ons of l aw or a n oti ceof appe al
. The onl

y rem ai ni ng questi on is

whether error appears o n the f

ace of the record. 1 Fi rs t, Fi na nc e Se rvi ce s c onte

nds th at e rror a ppe ars on t he face o f the re co rd and t he de fau lt judgm

ent should be reve

r sed beca us e se rvice o f cita t ion and pr oc ess w as d efect ive. T he clerk’s re co rd co nt ains a r ece ipt for cer t ifi ed mail and a signed re t ur n re ceipt wit h an i lle gib le signatur e showi

n g th at som

ethi ng was s en

t to Fin ance Se rvi ces at “4 650 R

egen t, Coppel l , TX 75019 .” While t he se do cu men t s c o uld r ela t e t o se r vic e o f cit at io n a nd pr o ce ss , no t hing in t he record af f i rm ati ve l y shows tha

t they do. Bef ore a pl ai ntif f m ay move for a def aul t judgm ent, the citation an

d proo f of servi ce sha ll be on f i l e wi th the di stri ct clerk f

or ten da y s e xc l us i ve of the da y of f i l i ng an d the d ateof j udgm en t. Tex . R. Ci

v. P. 1 07. Or dinar ily

, p re sumpt ions a re made in su ppo rt of a judg ment including the presumption of pro per and lawf ul ci tat ion and servi

ce of proc ess when the j udgment so recites; howe

ver, no such presum

pti on ca n b e m ade i n a d i re ct a ttack u pon a def aul t j udgm en t.5

McKanna v. Edgar , 388 S.W.2d 927 , 929 (Tex. 196 5) . O n app eal fro m a defau lt jud gment , t he record must sho w an a ppe ar ance by the defe n dant or due ser vice o f cita t ion indep ende nt of t he
r ec it als i n the j udgm

en t. F lynt v . C ity of Kings ville , 8 2 S .W. 2d 9 34 ( Te x. 1 934 ). The re ar e no pr esu mpt ions in f

avor of val

id is suance, se

rvice, and return of ci

tation in a review of a n

o-answer de fau lt j udgm

en t. Uvalde Country Club v. Martin Linen Supply Co., 690 S. W.2 d 88 4, 885 (T ex. 1985)
. Fai

lure to aff irm ative ly show that the record reflec ts strict complia

nce wi th the rules

o f civ il procedu re ren de rs the atte m pte d s erv i cei nv al i d a nd of no ef f ect. Id. A judgment by

defaul t without proper servi ceof

ci tation i s void as the court wa s wi

thout j uri sdi

cti on to en

ter a j udgm en t. Wilson v. Dunn , 800 S.W .2d 833 , 836-3 7 (Tex . 1990)
.

The clerk’ s rec ordl ac ksi nf orm ati on that aff irm ative ly shows that Fi

nan ce Servi ces was pro perly

served with ci

tat ion and process. Th ere i s n ot a c opy of the ci tation or pro of of serv

ic e in t he record. Furt her, exh

ibits attached

to Posada’s petition refl

ect busi ness addresses f

or Fin ance Services i n Irv i n g, n ot Co pp el l . Th e e x h i b i ts refl ect two I rvi

ng addresse s: P.O. Box 141475, Irvin g, Texas, 75014 and 222 W . Las Co linas Blvd., St e. 250 , I rving, Te xas, 750 39. We ca nno t pr es ume compl ia ncewi th the rules g overn

i ng s ervi ce a

nd r eturn o f cit at io n. He re, the

rec ord d oesnot affir mat ive ly

sho w t hat Po sad a st rict ly complied wit h t he rul esof ci vi l proc ed ure govern i ng ci tation and return

of s ervi ce. Prima teConstr., Inc. v. Silver , 884 S.W.2d151, 152 (Tex. 1994). Fin ance Services’s f

irst i ssue i s sustai

ned. In its sec ond is sue, Finance S er vices r aises a n alte rna t iveba sis fo rr ev er sing t he de fau lt j udgm en t. Finance S er vices co nt ends t hat er ro r a ppe ar s o n t he face of the r eco rd becau se Po sada’s pe ti ti on fai le d to al l eg e f ac ts o r a ss er

t a cau se o f act ion ag ainst Finance S er vices. A defau lt jud gment6

must be b ased on the pleadi

ngs f il ed i n the cause
. Stoner v. Thompson , 578 S. W.2 d 67 9, 682 (T ex. 1979)
. Indeter mi

ni ng whether a cause of action has been pl eaded, t he pl ain

tiff ’s pleadi ngs m us t co nt ain suf

f i ci en t in f orma tion f or the cour

t t o be able, fro m an examinat ion o f the ple adi ngs al one, to as ce r t ain wit h r ea so na ble cer t ainty and wit hou t re so rt ing t o info rmat ion o ut side t he plea dings t he el em en ts of t he pl ai

ntif f ’scaus e of

action an d the rel i ef sough t. Id. at 6 83. Mere f

orm al i ti es , m i nor defec ts and techni

cal in suf fi ci enci es wi l l n ot i n v al i da te a defa ult j udgme

nt where the peti

tion states
a ca use of a cti on an d gi ve s f ai r noti ce to the opp osi

ng p arty of the rel i ef sough t. Id. The only cause of action al

le ged in Posada’s petition was thatt he “seller ,” which t he petition def

in ed asCorn ers tone Hom es , “ i s l i ab l e f or de ce pti ve trad e p racti ce s u

nd er § 17. 46 of

t he TexasBusin

ess a n d C om

merce Cod e ( th e D ec ep ti

v e T ra de Pra cti ce s- Con su mer Pro tect[i on ] Act) f orf alse , m i sl eadi n g a n d d ec ep ti

v e r ep re se n tati on s a s to t he ch ar ac t er o f t he ho me pur chas ed by [ t he buy er].”T he pe t it io n o nly

mentio ns t hat Po sad a “o bt ained financing through Ford Housing F in ance Services.” Exa mini

ng Po sa da ’s pe t it io n u po n w hic h t he de fau lt judg ment is ba se d, we ar e u na ble to as certai

n th e e l em en ts of Pos ad a’ s c l ai

m or ca us e of ac ti on agai nst Fi na nc e Serv i ces . The re are no factual al le gations i

n the peti tion thatwou

l d g i v e ri se to a cause of action against Fi nance Services. The only alleged fact co ncer ning Finance S er vices— t hat Po sad a o bt ained financing the re— doe s n ot giv e rise to a cause of

ac ti on a gai ns t Fi na nc e Se rvi ce s. W

i thou t a c l ai m or ca us e of action al le ged in the peti tion a gai nst F i nan ce Se rvices, the defa

ult j udgme

nt cann ot stand. Accordi

ngl y, F in ance Serv i ces ’ssec ond issue i s su stai ne d. Conclusion7 We hol d tha t error appe ars on the

f ace of the rec ordf

or two reason s: (1) the re cord does no t affir mat ive ly

show that Posada complie d with the rul es of ci vi l procedure regardi

ng serv ic e of citation and process, and (2) Po sada’s petition does not stat e a clai m or cause of action against Fi nan ce Serv i ces . Cons eque

ntl y , i t is unn ece ssa ry for us to address Fi

nan ce Servi ces’s rem ai ni ng two issues. The def

aul t judgm ent is reversed an

d the cause i s rem

anded to the distri ct court for further pro ceedings.

Bea An n Sm ith, Justice Bef ore Justices K

idd, B. A . Smi

th and Pury

ear Reversed a

nd Rem anded File d: October 18, 2001 Do No t Publis

h