Opinion ID: 1780829
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Stewart Title's Counterclaim and Attorney's Fees

Text: At trial, the jury found that the Aiellos failed to convey title to Stewart Title within a reasonable time after Stewart Title paid the purchase price. The jury awarded $10,000 to Stewart Title for the Aiellos' breach of the agreed judgment. The Aiellos argue that they did not breach the agreed judgment because they were not required to convey the deed to Stewart Title until after Stewart Title held a closing. The court of appeals concluded that the agreed judgment was ambiguous as to when the Aiellos were required to convey the deed to Stewart Title. 911 S.W.2d at 477. Because the Aiellos did not submit a jury question about the parties' intentions regarding when the Aiellos were required to deliver the deed, the court of appeals held that they waived their arguments that they had not breached the contract. Id. Whether a contract is ambiguous is a question of law for the court to decide by looking at the contract as a whole in light of the circumstances present when the contract was entered. See Coker v. Coker, 650 S.W.2d 391, 393-94 (Tex.1983). We disagree with the court of appeals that the agreed judgment was ambiguous. A contract that can be given a definite or certain legal meaning is not ambiguous. Id. at 393; see also Universal C.I.T. Credit Corp. v. Daniel, 150 Tex. 513, 243 S.W.2d 154, 157 (1951). The trial court correctly determined that the agreed judgment was unambiguous and that holding a closing and paying closing costs were separate covenants from Stewart Title's duty to pay the purchase price. Accordingly, we affirm the court of appeals's judgment upholding Stewart Title's breach of contract counterclaim, but on different grounds. Relying on Dobbins v. Redden, 785 S.W.2d 377, 378 (Tex.1990) and Gulf Pipe Line Co. v. Nearen, 135 Tex. 50, 138 S.W.2d 1065, 1068 (1940), the Aiellos further argue that Stewart's breach of the contract precludes its recovery of attorney's fees. Both of these cases involved plaintiffs who sued for payment on a construction contract even though they had not substantially performed their obligations. Under the trial court's interpretation of the agreed judgment, to which the Aiellos did not object, payment of the purchase price was the only condition precedent to receiving the deed. Thus, under these cases, Stewart Title was not entitled to delivery of the deed if it had never paid the purchase price. But inasmuch as Stewart Title substantially performed the contract by paying the purchase price before trial, the court of appeals properly upheld Stewart Title's counterclaim and reinstated the jury's award of attorney's fees. Finally, ample evidence that Stewart Title presented a claim for title to the property on several occasions supports the court of appeals's holding that presentment was tried by consent. See Roark v. Stallworth Oil & Gas, Inc., 813 S.W.2d 492, 495 (Tex.1991). The Aiellos also argue that Stewart Title cannot recover its attorney's fees because it failed to properly segregate them. See Sterling, 822 S.W.2d at 10-11. We do not reach this issue. The Aiellos failed to preserve any error in this regard because they did not raise it as a cross-point in the court of appeals. See Tex.R. Civ. P. 324(c).