Opinion ID: 407800
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Duty to Collect Issue:

Text: 29 CGNL next argues that Entex had a duty to attempt to collect the increases in the price of gas from the predecessor of Lo-Vaca, United Pipeline, Inc., before it passed such increases to CGNL, and further, that because it had not made any such attempt, it could not collect the increases. CGNL contends that such a duty arises from a clause in the contract between United Gas Pipeline and Entex, which states that if one of the parties assigned its interest to another (as United did to Lo-Vaca), then that party would cause the acquiring entity to faithfully perform all the obligations created by the contract. 30 CGNL did not cite, and we have not found, any case that supports this proposition. We agree with the district court that the relevant clause in the contract is nothing more than a general restatement of the universal proposition that a party to a contract cannot escape its contractual obligations by assigning the contract to another. The assignor, in effect, becomes a guarantor of the performance by the assignee. Tex.Bus. & Comm.Code Ann. § 2.210(a) (1968). On the evidence presented in this case, we hold that Entex had no duty to attempt to collect the increases in gas prices from United Gas Pipeline for the benefit of CGNL prior to passing them through. 8