Court Opinion

ID: 9648770
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 14:34:37.502309+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:08:10.343896
License: Public Domain

HUGHES, Justice
(concurring).
In the opinion for the Court by Associate Justice PHILLIPS the case of Thomas v. Ellison, 102 Tex. 354, 116 S.W. 1141, is cited for the rule prescribing the measure of damages in cases of this character. The Court there discussed the rights of a purchaser of land who had been defrauded by misrepresentations by the vendor as to the amount of debts outstanding against the property. As to such concealed debts the Court held that the purchaser had no cause of action against the vendor until he had paid such debts or had become legally liable therefor. I quote from the opinion:
“We are of the opinion that the court erred in refusing to quash the attachment on the ground set up in the motion. The cause of action stated in the third amended petition, and in those which preceded it, for the recovery of *681damages for the deceit practiced was for a tort, and not for a debt in the sense of the attachment law, and it constituted no lawful basis for the writ. El Paso Bank v. Fuchs, 89 Tex. 197, 34 S.W. 206. We do not understand counsel for plaintiff to contend that a cause of action like that just referred to would sustain an attachment. Their contention is that the third amended petition disclosed a cause of action, however defectively stated, for the recovery, upon the broken warranty, of the amount of the incumbrance, as for a debt existing, but not mature. But the trouble with this is that no such cause of action existed when the attachment was sued out, and none such arose until the subsequent payment of the Harrison notes. Until that payment was made the defendant owed, not the plaintiff, but the holders of the notes. The plaintiff, when he sued out the writ, had neither paid, nor, so far as his allegations show, assumed or in any way become bound for the payment of, the notes. They were merely secured by a lien on his property, and this gave him the right to discharge them and look to Thomas, Jr., for reimbursement; but, until he had either paid them, or substituted himself for Thomas, Jr., as Harrison’s debtor, he had no cause of action against Thomas, Jr., on the warranty to recover the amount due on them. Gunst v. Pelham, 74 Tex. 586, 12 S.W. 233.”
In Bell v. Isenhower, Tex.Civ.App., 356 S.W.2d 485, reversed Tex., 365 S.W.2d 354, this Court, without knowledge of the above case, applied the principle of the above case to a similar fact situation. The subject matter of the sale there was a feed store and the amount of the outstanding debts was misrepresented. The Trial Court rendered judgment for the full amount of such debts in favor of the purchaser and against the seller. We reversed such judgment on the ground that the purchaser not having paid such debts could not recover for them. We also called attention to the liability of the purchaser to creditors of the store under Art. 4001, V.A.C.S., Bulk Sales Law, compliance with such statute not having been shown.
There is no question, under Thomas v. Ellison, but that we were correct in our holding as to the substantial rights of the parties. We may have erred in remanding the case and in not rendering judgment against the purchaser as we were urged to do. Since the case had to be reversed we exercised a discretion which we believed we had under Rules 434, 505, T.R.C.P. and we remanded rather than rendered the cause. See Benoit v. Wilson, 150 Tex. 273, 239 S.W.2d 792.
We could have rendered judgment for Bell on the ground that the evidence did not show that Isenhower had paid any un-assumed debts and did not show the extent of his liability under the Bulk Sales Law or that he had become obligated for such debts in' any other manner. The record does show that Isenhower is liable to creditors for the value of the stock, etc. purchased, under the Bulk Sales Law, but since such value is not shown, no judgment could be rendered. Certainly elemental justice required us to remand this case rather than render judgment as we had the power to do. This remand, however, was the Court’s responsibility, not appellant’s. If we abused our discretion in remanding the cause, appellant should not be made to suffer for it. Appellant sought rendition of judgment on the ground that there was no evidence to support it. These assignments were properly presented to this Court.
The Supreme Court in Isenhower refused to consider the assignments by Bell filed in this Court under which the judgment could have been reversed and rendered in his favor, Bell not filing an application for writ of error, saying that since we reversed and remanded the case that Court could only “review the points of error in Bell’s brief in the Court of Civil Appeals to see if there was error assigned which would support *682the judgment of the Court of Civil Appeals.”
The rule, as stated in the leading case of Holland v. Nimitz, 111 Tex. 419, 232 S.W. 298, 239 S.W. 185, is: “But it seems to be the definitely settled rule that the party who prevailed in the Court of Civil Appeals is entitled to have his assignments, which were properly presented in that court, considered by the Supreme Court insofar as it may be necessary to determine what judgment should have been rendered by the Court of Civil Appeals.” This is the language of Mr. Justice Greenwood. The italics are mine.
The judgment which we should have rendered in Isenhower was, as clearly reflected by our opinion, one denying Isenhower any money recovery, unless, as we believed, in the interest of justice a remand was in order.
It is a very strange rule which deprived Mr. Bell of the total benefit of a good assignment of error because having received less under it than he was entitled he saw fit not to complain and accept a remand of the case rather than insist on its rendition.
Under the rule as stated in Holland v. Nimitz, supra, this result could not have occurred. Under it our judgment which, on proper assignments, vacated a Trial Court judgment which was wholly without evidence or law to support it would have been sustained.