Source: https://ghristlaw.com/category/blogs/
Timestamp: 2018-07-20 17:55:43
Document Index: 426965845

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1322', '§ 13', '§ 270', '§ 349', 'art 8', '§ 155', '§ 155', '§ 1639', '§ 1639', '§ 1640', '§ 1611', '§ 32', '§ 51', '§ 12', '§ 12', '§ 365', '§ 365', '§ 365', '§ 365', '§ 365', '§ 25', '§ 25', '§ 21', 'Art. 5', '§ 15', '§ 26', 'art. 5', '§ 15']

Ghrist Law | Category | Blogs
Loans on the Debtor’s Principal Residence May Not be Modified in Bankruptcy. Under 11 USC § 1322(b)(2), a Chapter 13 bankruptcy plan may “modify the rights of holders of secured claims, other than a claim secured only by a security interest in real property that is the debtor’s principal residence.” Real estate investors with an owner-financed, residential portfolio should take particular notice of this provision. The creditor on a residential mortgage should receive its payments even between the filing date and the plan confirmation date. Perez v. Peake, 373 B.R. 468, 487 (S.D. Tex. 2007). Under the Nobelman case, the debtor cannot bifurcate secured and unsecured portions of the holder of a principal residence lien. Collier on Bankruptcy P 1322.06 (16th 2017); Nobelman v. Am. Sav. Bank, 508 U.S. 324, 332, 113 S. Ct. 2106, 2111 (1993). Accordingly, such lien cannot be modified unless the lien is “completely undersecured” or “wholly unsecured,” which becomes an issue with second liens on principal residences. McDonald v. Master Fin., Inc. (In re McDonald), 205 F.3d 606, 610 (3d Cir. 2000).
When a small claims case is appealed from the Justice Court (aka the Small Claims Court) to the County Court at Law, the parties tend to get serious about the litigation. Often, attorneys do not get involved until the case has been appealed to the County Court at Law from the Small Claims Court. The attorney who takes on a small claims appeal often finds that the pro se pleadings have numerous errors or deficiencies, most of which may be harmless in small claims court where the rules of evidence and procedure do not technically apply, but which may cause serious problems in the County Court at Law where the procedural rules can win or lose a case. There are, however, serious limits on what the attorney can do, on appeal, to fix these issues.
Generally, the pleadings can be amended on appeal, but new grounds for recovery cannot be added. Lost Creek Ventures, LLC v. Pilgrim, No. 01-15-00375-CV, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 6974, at *21-23 (App.—Dallas June 30, 2016); Richard v. Taylor, 886 S.W.2d 848, 851 (Tex. App.—Beaumont 1994); Carnegie Homes & Constr. LLC v. Turk, No. 14-16-00260-CV, 2017 Tex. App. LEXIS 8607, at *7-8 (App.—Houston [14th Dist.] Sep. 7, 2017). The rule has been stated as “new matters may be plead, but no new grounds of recovery may be added.” Merrikh v. Hernandez, NO. 01-98-00111-CV, 1999 Tex. App. LEXIS 9153, at *6-7 (App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Dec. 9, 1999). The boundaries of this general rule are somewhat unclear right now because the rule used to be found in Tex. R. Civ. P. 574a, which was repealed in 2013. How the law will change, if at all, based on the repeal of Tex. R. Civ. P. 574a, remains unclear. Generally, the county court’s appellate jurisdiction is confined to the limits of the justice court’s jurisdiction. Kendziorski v. Saunders, 191 S.W.3d 395, 406 (Tex. App.—Austin 2006, no pet.). However, this jurisdictional limit does not apply to amounts “sustained as a result of the passage of time.” Id. at 409.
Where the general rule is violated and a litigant brings claims in the county court at law that go beyond the limits of the small claims court, the proper remedy is not to dismiss the claims, but rather to sever them. Richard v. Taylor, 886 S.W.2d 848, 851 (Tex. App.—Beaumont 1994). If a party was not a party in the justice court, then the party is not a proper party to the appeal in the county court and claims involving such party should be severed from the justice court appeal. Merrikh v. Hernandez, NO. 01-98-00111-CV, 1999 Tex. App. LEXIS 9153, at *6-7 (App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Dec. 9, 1999).
The more savvy real estate investors tend to have a hard rule against buying occupied property unless the occupant signed a written lease agreement, the seller had a detailed payment ledger, and there is a transferable security deposit. Even then, best practice would be to also personally ask the tenant whether the tenant claims any interest in the property other than a leasehold. The buyer should also possibly put the request in writing or get the tenant to sign a waiver or release of any title claims. Real estate wholesalers often think that they can get a steal of a deal by offering to evict a non-paying occupant for a beleaguered seller. However, this road often leads to problems bigger than the buyer anticipates.
The problems arise from claims that the occupant may have to the property. If you look at Schedule B to your owner’s title policy from your title insurance company of choice, then you will probably find language similar to the following: “We do not cover loss, costs, attorney’s fees and expenses resulting from . . . [t]he following matters and all terms of the documents creating or offering evidence of the matters (we must insert matters or delete this exception): . . . Rights of parties in possession.” So, your title company will not cover any claims raised by anyone who is in possession of the property at the time that you purchase the property. Bet you wish you knew that when you bought your title insurance? But alas, most people do not read their policy, would not understand it even if they did read it, and their escrow officer or title agent probably put little to no effort into explaining what the policy does and does not cover. Knowledge is power and if you know what types of title disputes you cannot insure against, then you can take steps to protect yourself from those types of disputes.
To understand what you need to do to protect yourself since your title company will not protect you, the best case to review is Madison v. Gordon, 39 S.W.3d 604, 606 (Tex. 2001): “One purchasing land may be charged with constructive notice of an occupant’s claims. This implied-notice doctrine applies if a court determines that the purchaser has a duty to ascertain the rights of a third-party possessor. See Collum v. Sanger Bros., 98 Tex. 162, 82 S.W. 459, 460 (Tex. 1904); American Surety Co., 82 S.W.2d at 183. When this duty arises, the purchaser is charged with notice of all the occupant’s claims the purchaser might have reasonably discovered on proper inquiry. Dixon v. Cargill, 104 S.W.2d 101, 102 (Tex. Civ. App.–Eastland 1937, writ ref’d); see also Flack, 226 S.W.2d at 632. The duty arises, however, only if the possession is visible, open, exclusive, and unequivocal.” Madison, 39 S.W.3d 604. The form of constructive notice described here is known as “inquiry notice,” which is notice of claims that one could discover through reasonable inquiry made to the occupant of the property.
Generally, a bona fide purchaser of real property for value (“BFP”) will acquire the property free of any unrecorded claims. Texas has codified BFP doctrine at Tex. Prop. Code § 13.001.
Madison is a fascinating case in the Texas Supreme Court where the Court of Appeals found that the occupancy of a guy who “resided on the property, had possession of the premises, and collected rents on the property before and after [the BFP’s] purchase” of the property defeated the BFP’s claim to the property due to his occupancy. Gordon v. Madison, 9 S.W.3d 476, 480 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2000). The Court of Appeals found that “even minimal inquiry by [the BFP] would have made her aware of Gordon’s claim, either by Gordon himself or the tenants who were paying rent. A purchaser who fails to make reasonable inquiry is charged with notice of all claims and facts that the inquiry would have disclosed . . . . Gordon’s residence on the property, his possession of the premises, and his past and continuing collection of rents established constructive notice to [the BFP] as a matter of law. We therefore conclude that Gordon disproved [the BFP’s] affirmative defense of good faith purchaser status as a matter of law . . . .” Id. Amazingly, the Texas Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals because the Supreme Court found that Gordon’s possession of the property was not exclusive or unequivocal. Madison v. Gordon, 39 S.W.3d 604, 607 (Tex. 2001). In reversing the Court of Appeals and rendering judgment in favor of the BFP, the Supreme Court seemed to assign great weight to the fact that the property was a multi-unit rental property. Accordingly, Gordon’s occupancy was “compatible with [the record title holder’s] assurances of ownership” because “[a]s a rental property, one would expect occupants on the property.” Id. Seemingly, the mere fact that a property is a rental property is enough to defeat an occupant’s inquiry notice claim, even where the occupant is residing in the property and collecting rents from the other occupants. In Madison, the occupant’s possession was “‘ambiguous or equivocal possession which may [have] appeared subservient or attributable to’ [the owner of record].” Id.; Strong v. Strong, 128 Tex. 470, 479, 98 S.W.2d 346, 350 (1936).
Equitable Title. Counter-intuitively, the State of Texas gives buyers under an executory contract for purchase of real property an ownership interest in the property called “equitable title.” See Johnson v. Wood, 138 Tex. 106, 157 S.W.2d 146 (1941). So, in Texas, if you sign a contract as a buyer, or even just an option agreement, or a lease-option, then you arguably have “equitable title,” which you can convert to official, legal title by suing on the contract within the limitations period (generally four years from contract execution date). See New York & T. Land Co. v. Hyland, 8 Tex. Civ. App. 601, 604 (Tex. Civ. App. Austin 1894). So, non-real estate attorneys might assume that anyone without a deed to property cannot be the owner of that property. Life would be easier if that were true.
In conclusion, the primary concerns for the buyer of occupied property are whether the occupant has an option to purchase the property; an executory contract to purchase the property, i.e., a contract to buy the property that remains open because the deadlines have not passed yet or payments remain to be made, or for whatever reason, the right to purchase the property may possibly still exist; or any other unrecorded claim of ownership to or interest in the subject property. The savy buyer needs to worry about every potential claim of an occupant, regardless of whether the claim is valid or not. Even an occupant who has clearly defaulted on an executory contract can claim equitable title through “substantial performance” (See 18-270 Dorsaneo, Texas Litigation Guide § 270.22 (2017); O.W. Grun Roofing & Constr. Co. v. Cope, 529 S.W.2d 258, 261–262 (Tex. Civ. App.—San Antonio 1975, no writ) or through application of the contract-for-deed regulations (see Subchapter D, Chapter 5 of the Texas Property Code).
The reason that the buyer needs to worry about invalid claims as well as valid claims is that the presence of any claim, whether valid or not, can deprive the Justice of the Peace Courts of jurisdiction over an eviction suit. See Espinoza v. Lopez, 468 S.W.3d 692, 696-97 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2015, no pet.). An eviction, from start to finish, in a Texas Justice of the Peace Court (“JP Court”) can end in under sixty days, easily. The owner of property seeking to evict an occupant in JP Court generally does not even need the help of an attorney. If, however, a title dispute exists, even a title dispute where the occupant has little chance of success on the merits, then the JP Court lacks jurisdiction and will dismiss the eviction suit.
At this point, the owner of the property will need to turn to higher courts to have the occupant evicted. In those higher courts, either a county court at law or a district court, the case will probably have a Level Two Discovery Control Plan (See Tex. R. Civ. P. 190.3), which means that there will be a nine (9) month long discovery period followed by a trial that may be reset multiple times. The owner will be lucky to have the occupant evicted within a year. In the meantime, the judgment-proof, deadbeat occupant will simply occupy the property for free unless the record owner can get the occupant evicted before trial through an injunction. Pre-trial injunctions, however, are very hard to get and are not granted easily. Most importantly, the time and effort, from an attorney’s fees standpoint, between getting an occupant evicted in a district court versus a JP Court is vast. Many attorneys will handle JP Court evictions for a relatively small flat fee or the record owner can handle the JP Court eviction themselves. In a district court, however, the owner definitely needs an attorney to ensure compliance with the Texas Rules of Evidence and Procedure and the attorney will probably demand a substantial retainer with an hourly billing arrangement because quoting a flat fee for a district court lawsuit is extremely difficult due to the extreme open-endedness of district court litigation where the parties can bring all manner of counter and cross-claims and argue over nearly every bit of minutia. Also, predicting the amount of pre-trial hearings, depositions, discovery, legal research, briefing, factual research, mediation, and other time-consuming matters in district court is nigh impossible in most instances.
The prudent buyer will take every possible step to avoid getting into a situation where an occupant in the property to be purchased may have any sort of claim against the property. This means making adequate inquiry and obtaining adequate assurances from the seller that the seller has good and marketable title that is superior to and consistent with any of the occupant’s claims.
Dealing with lenders that are slow or unresponsive to requests for payoff quotes and lien releases can be one of the most frustrating and obnoxious parts of a real estate transaction. Borrowers have several laws to rely upon to induce and incentivize their lenders to provide payoff statements and lien releases in a timely and reasonable manner.
Texas State Law. Under Section 349.003 of the Texas Finance Code, a person who fails to perform a requirement imposed upon that person by Subtitle B of Title 4 of the Texas Finance Code “is liable to the obligor for an amount that does not exceed an amount computed under one, but not both, of the following:
(B) $4,000 in a transaction in which the amount financed exceeds $5,000.”
Also, anyone liable under this statute is liable for “reasonable attorney’s fees set by the court.” Tex. Fin. Code § 349.003(b).
Section 343.106 of the Texas Finance Code provides that the Texas Finance Commission shall promulgate rules related to payoff statement requests. The Texas Finance Commission promulgated such rules in Chapter 155 of Part 8 of Title 7 of the Texas Administrative Code.
Under 7 T.A.C. § 155.2, payoff statement requests should be in writing, in accordance with lender designations, and should include, at a minimum, the name of the mortgagor, the physical address of the collateral, and the proposed closing date of the loan. Upon receipt of a proper payoff request, the mortgage servicer must deliver a payoff statement by the “eighth business day after the date the request is received unless federal law requires a shorter response time.” 7 T.A.C. § 155.3.
Actual damages for failure to provide a payoff statement need to be proven up by something more than mere speculation or conjucture and must be arrived at “by reference to some fairly definite standard, established experience, or direct inference from known facts.” Household Fin. Corp. III v. DTND Sierra Invs., LLC, No. 04-13-00033-CV, 2013 Tex. App. LEXIS 13649, at *20 (App.—San Antonio Nov. 6, 2013). This can be a tricky part of getting damages for a wrongful refusal to provide a payoff statement. The owner of property can testify to the value of the owner’s property, but must explain the basis for the owner’s valuation and the basis cannot be speculative or conjectural. Id. at *31.
A mortgagee’s refusal to provide a payoff quote is not an affirmative misrepresentation of the amount of the debt under Section 392.304(a)(8) or (19) of the Texas Finance Code, i.e., the Texas Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Verdin v. Fannie Mae, 540 Fed. Appx. 253, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 16982 (5th Cir. Tex. 2013, no pet. h.).
Federal Law. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1639g, “A creditor or servicer of a home loan shall send an accurate payoff balance within a reasonable time, but in no case more than 7 business days, after the receipt of a written request for such balance from or on behalf of the borrower.” The aggrieved borrower under 15 U.S.C. § 1639g can get damages under 15 U.S.C. § 1640(a)(1)–(3), but not (a)(4). So, actual damages plus statutory damages in the range, and attorney’s fees and court costs, but not “an amount equal to the sum of all finance charges and fees paid by the consumer.”
Title Company Affidavit as Release of Lien. Under Section 12.017 of the Texas Property Code, a title company can, in accord with the statute, file an affidavit as a release of lien if the mortgagee fails to provide a timely release of lien following the provision of a payoff statement that was complied with.
Criminal Law. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1611, anyone who willingly and knowingly fails to provide information that is required to be disclosed “shall be fined not more than $5,000.00 or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.” This is a criminal statute. Getting a federal law enforcement official or prosecutor interested in this is probably not very easy unless the circumstances are extremely egregious.
Under Tex. Penal Code § 32.49, the refusal to release a fraudulent lien, as described by Tex. Gov’t Code § 51.901(c), upon request can be a Class A misdemeanor. Also see Bowles v. State, No. 01-04-00801-CV, 2006 Tex. App. LEXIS 7341, at *2 (App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Aug. 17, 2006).
A fraudulent lien can give rise to civil liability of the greater of $10,000.00 or actual damages, plus court costs, attorney’s fees, and exemplary damages, but refusal or failure to provide a lien release following a payoff may not qualify as a fraudulent lien for purposes of Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 12.002 because the lien was not fraudulent when filed. However, the statute does prohibit making, presenting or “use” of a document with knowledge that the document is a fraudulent lien or claim, so there may be scenarios where the statute could be applicable to the refusal or failure to provide a lien release. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 12.002.
Refusing to release a lien can also be considered slander of title. Tarrant Bank v. Miller, 833 S.W.2d 666, 667 (Tex. App.—Eastland 1992).
The lender’s failure to provide the payoff statement or release of lien is also going to be a plain old breach of contract claim. The wrongful lien also clouds title, so the borrower could file a suit to quiet title under the declaratory judgment statute and get attorney’s fees for prosecution of a declaratory judgments action.
Suit to Remove Cloud on Title in the Form of Unreleased Lien Not a Trespass to Try Title Suit. Attorney’s fees are not generally available in a trespass to try title case. Trespass to try title cases involve possession of property. Skalak v. Book, No. 03-11-00595-CV, 2012 Tex. App. LEXIS 8226, at *22 (App.—Austin Sep. 26, 2012). Non-possessory suits, like a suit to remove a cloud upon title caused by an unreleased lien, would accordingly likely qualify for recovery of attorney’s fees under the Texas Uniform Declaratory Judgments Act.
Bankruptcy law is federal and bankruptcies are filed and litigated in federal court. Texas landlords who are accustomed to waltzing down to their local justice of the peace court to evict their tenants can be shocked and intimidated by the complexity and difficulty of dealing with a tenant who files for federal bankruptcy protection. As soon as that federal bankruptcy petition is filed, the Texas state courts no longer have jurisdiction to hear an eviction suit until either the bankruptcy stay is lifted or the bankruptcy case is dismissed. Many landlords handle simple evictions in Texas without an attorney, but generally no landlord should try to handle a bankruptcy case, or perform any collections activities against a tenant in bankruptcy, without an attorney.
My Tenant Filed Bankruptcy, Now What? If none of the above rules apply, then the landlord needs to find out whether the tenant will assume or reject the lease. Outside of Chapter 7 (liquidation bankruptcy), the tenant can choose to assume or reject the lease up till the plan confirmation date. 11 U.S.C. § 365(d)(2). In Chapter 7, residential leases are deemed rejected after sixty (60) days of the filing of the bankruptcy petition. 11 U.S.C. § 365(d)(1). For nonresidential property, the deadline is the earlier of the confirmation date or 120 days from the bankruptcy filing date. 11 U.S.C. § 365(d)(4). If the tenant wants to assume the lease, then the tenant can do so regardless of ipso facto clauses, which attempt to draft around the bankruptcy rules. 11 U.S.C. § 365(b)(2). The tenant who wants to assume the lease must cure any default, other than unenforceable ipso facto defaults. 11 U.S.C. 365(b). The tenant may also need to compensate the landlord for any losses due to the default and provide adequate assurance that the lease will be performed in the future. Id. The tenant’s cure must be “prompt.” 11 U.S.C. § 365(b)(1)(A). The landlord’s idea of “prompt” and the bankruptcy court’s idea of “prompt” are probably different since bankruptcy courts have been known to allow tenants to cure pre-petition arrearages over six months. The landlord can file a motion to compel assumption or rejection of contract. See 1-15 Collier Consumer Bankruptcy Practice Guide p. 15.03 for more information.
Texas probate court jurisdiction is mind-boggling and yet eminently important. You can go all the way through a trial and have the judgment vacated solely because the Court of Appeals finds that the Trial Court did not have jurisdiction. “Subject matter jurisdiction exists by operation of law and cannot be conferred on a court by consent or waiver.” See Dubai Petroleum Co. v. Kazi, 12 S.W.3d 71, 76 (Tex. 2000). Lack of subject matter jurisdiction renders a judgment void rather than merely voidable. Mapco, Inc. v. Forrest, 795 S.W.2d 700, 703 (Tex. 1990).” Jeter v. McGraw, 218 S.W.3d 850, 853 (Tex. App.—Beaumont 2007) (court of appeals vacated the district court’s judgment on a partition lawsuit and dismissed the case because the case should have been brought in the probate court). The last thing that you want to happen is to win a big case in district or county court only to find out that your judgment is invalid because the case should have been tried in the probate court, or vice-versa.
Statutory Probate Courts, County Courts at Law Exercising Probate Jurisdiction (aka County Courts at Law with probate jurisdiction), and Constitutional County Courts (aka County Courts). As if the rules were not complicated enough already, the Texas Legislature has even named the probate courts in a highly confusing manner. For example, County Courts at Law are the same thing as Statutory County Courts, but not the same thing as Statutory Probate Courts, and Constitutional County Courts are also called simply County Courts, which means that a County Court is a completely different court from a County Court at Law. Under Tex. Gov’t Code § 25.0003, any statutory county court (aka “county court at law”) has original probate jurisdiction unless otherwise provided. You will want to check Title 2, Subtitle A, Chapter 25, Subchapter C of the Texas Government Code for any potential exceptions to the general rule that county courts at law have original probate jurisdiction. Also, you can generally check Subchapter C, starting at Tex. Gov’t Code § 25.0041, to see if your county has any statutory county courts or not. You can also generally use Subchapter C to find out whether your county has statutory probate courts or not. Every county in Texas has a constitutional county court (aka “county court”). See Tex. Gov’t Code § 21.009(1); Tex. Const. Art. 5 § 15; Tex. Gov’t Code § 26.041 et. seq. Each county has one County Judge who presides over the county court aka constitutional county court as well as the County Commissioners Court and the county itself. Tex. Const. art. 5 §§ 15, 16, 18.