Court Opinion

ID: 9772914
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 17:33:03.363169+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:31:49.232664
License: Public Domain

*29AKIN, Justice,
dissenting.
I cannot agree that the equitable lien held by Sharp is void; rather, I would hold that the lien is both valid and enforceable and would, accordingly, reverse the judgment of the trial court and render judgment for Sharp. Consequently, I must dissent.
VALIDITY OF THE LIEN
Article 16, Section 50 of the Texas Constitution provides:
The homestead of a family, or of a single adult person, shall be, and is hereby protected from forced sale, for the payment of all debts except for the purchase money thereof, or a part of such purchase money, the taxes due thereon, or for work and material used in constructing improvements thereon, and in this last case only when the work and material are contracted for in writing, and with the consent of both spouses, in the case of a family homestead, given in the same manner as is required in making a sale and conveyance of the homestead; nor may the owner or claimant of the property claimed as homestead, if married, sell or abandon the homestead without the consent of the other spouse, given in such manner as may be prescribed by law. No mortgage, trust deed, or other lien on the homestead shall ever be valid, except for the purchase money therefor, or improvements made thereon, as hereinbefore provided, whether such mortgage, or trust deed, or other lien, shall have been created by the owner alone, or together with his or her spouse, in case the owner is married. All pretended sales of the homestead involving any condition or defeasance shall be void. This amendment shall become effective upon its adoption, [emphasis added]
Because Sharp’s equitable lien was for improvements to the Glover’s homestead, the lien is valid. I recognize that the improvements to the Glovers’ homestead were not “contracted for in writing” as provided in Section 50 but conclude that such formalities are not required where the improvements are constructed with stolen funds. If the Glovers had borrowed the money for the improvements from Sharp, Sharp would have been able to obtain a valid lien on the Glovers’ homestead in the amount of the loan in accordance with the provisions of Section 50. Why, then, should the validity of Sharp’s equitable lien be questioned, and the Glovers protected, simply because the funds used to make the improvements were stolen rather than borrowed from Sharp? In my view, Section 50 was not intended by the framers of the constitution to protect a thief who steals funds and then uses those funds to improve his already-existing homestead. To hold to the contrary is to encourage wrongdoing. It is axiomatic that constitutional and statutory provisions will not be construed so as to ascribe to the drafters an intention to do an unjust, unreasonable, or absurd thing. See McKinney v. Blankenship, 154 Tex. 632, 282 S.W.2d 691, 698 (1955); Anderson v. Penix, 138 Tex. 596, 161 S.W.2d 455, 458 (1942). The homestead laws of the State of Texas were never intended to be the haven of wrongfully obtained money or properties. Baucum v. Texam Oil Corp., 423 S.W.2d 434, 442 (Tex.Civ.App.—El Paso 1968, writ ref’d n.r.e.).
The case so heavily relied upon by the majority, Barnett v. Eureka Paving Co., 234 S.W. 1081 (Tex.Comm’n App.1921, holding approved), is clearly distinguishable from the case at bar and, therefore, is not controlling. Barnett concerned a lien placed upon a homestead to secure the costs of paving the street running in front of the homestead. The Barnett court concluded that such a lien was void simply because the supreme court had previously held that such a lien did not fall within one of the three categories of liens which the Constitution provides may be foreclosed upon a homestead. See Higgins v. Bordages, 88 Tex. 458, 31 S.W. 52 (1895). Those three categories are liens for purchase money or a part thereof, for taxes, and for improvements. TEX.CONST. art. 16, § 50. Sharp’s lien, of course, arises out of improvements made to the Glovers’ home*30stead and thus is one of the three types of liens that the constitution provides may be placed, and foreclosed, upon a homestead. Accordingly, Barnett is of little relevance to the case before us.
Furthermore, I would hold that the Glo-vers waived their possible homestead defense by failing to appeal the judgment in the first suit, which created the equitable lien. It is well-settled that a person by his act or omission may waive even a constitutional right. Michel v. State of Louisiana, 350 U.S. 91, 99, 76 S.Ct. 158, 163, 100 L.Ed. 83 (1955); Yakus v. United States, 321 U.S. 414, 444, 64 S.Ct. 660, 677, 88 L.Ed. 834 (1944); Hernandez v. Houston Independent School District, 558 S.W.2d 121, 125 (Tex.Civ.App.—Austin 1977, writ ref’d n.r.e.); Young v. City of Colorado, 174 S.W. 986, 994 (Tex.Civ.App.—Fort Worth 1915, writ ref'd). A homestead right is an affirmative defense, Bennett v. State National Bank, Odessa, Texas, 623 S.W.2d 719 (Tex.Civ.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1981, writ ref’d n.r.e.), which may be waived by the party entitled to assert it. Benson v. Mangum, 117 S.W.2d 169 (Tex.Civ.App.—San Antonio 1938, writ ref’d). The Glovers failed to appeal the judgment in the first suit, which created the equitable lien, and so have waived any applicable affirmative defense to the creation of the lien arising out of their homestead interest. To hold otherwise is to unnecessarily undermine the valued concept of finality of judgments.
In this respect, I cannot agree with the majority’s statement that a judgment ordering a forced sale is “vulnerable to collateral impeachment on the theory that the property was a homestead not only when this fact is revealed by the record but also when the record is silent on the issue.” Imagine, for example, a defendant who has a colorable homestead defense but is apprehensive about advancing it at trial for fear the issue will be decided against him. The rule pronounced by the majority has the absurd effect of allowing this defendant to sit silently by while a court places a lien upon his property and to later, sometime in the future when the lien is about to be foreclosed, assert his homestead defense for the first time in order to have the earlier judgment declared “void.” Such practice is contrary to the concepts of both judicial economy and finality of judgments. For the majority to encourage litigants to “lay behind the log” in such a manner is irresponsible, inexcusable, and untenable.
ENFORCEABILITY OF THE LIEN
I turn now to the question of whether Sharp may foreclose upon his equitable lien. The Glovers argue that Sharp may not force sale of their homestead in order to satisfy the lien because the lien is against only Jo Ann Glover’s interest in the homestead. The Glovers assert, in effect, that their homestead should be protected from forced sale because of David Glover’s interest therein. I disagree and would hold that Sharp may foreclose upon his lien.
This position is supported by two cases cited by Sharp. In Smith v. Green, 243 S.W. 1006 (Tex.Civ.App.—Amarillo 1922, writ ref’d), Smith and Green were engaged in a partnership. Without Green’s knowledge or consent, Smith used partnership funds to erect a residence upon his lot. Smith and his wife occupied the property as their homestead until they sold it, receiving in exchange another house and lot as well as $11,500 cash. Green sued to recover the partnership funds from the proceeds of the sale of the Smiths’ homestead. The trial court allowed Green to recover the misapplied partnership funds by imposing a constructive trust upon the cash proceeds of the sale of the Smiths’ homestead. On appeal, the question presented for the court’s decision was “whether the homestead character of the property would prevent a court of equity from declaring a trust thereon.” Smith v. Green, 243 S.W. at 1007. The court, relying on the constructive trust doctrine, answered this question in the negative. Smith held the property purchased with the misapplied partnership funds in trust for Green, its real owner; thus, in equity there was no real ownership of the property by Smith. *31Accordingly, the court held that the constitution did not prohibit the establishment of a constructive trust against the homestead under the facts of the case.
Although the issue was not squarely before it, the Amarillo court indicated that, had the Smiths been occupying their homestead at the time of suit, the fact that Smith’s wife was innocent of any wrongdoing would not have protected the homestead from forced sale. The court reasoned that the innocent wife would not be in any better position than her wrongdoing husband because “[s]he, as well as he, profited by the investment of the trust funds to the benefit of their homestead without paying any consideration for such benefit.” Smith v. Green, 243 S.W. at 1008.
This rationale is equally applicable to the facts of the case at bar. The embezzled funds which were used to construct the improvements to the Glovers’ homestead were held in constructive trust by Jo Ann Glover for their real owner, Sharp. Sharp obtained a valid lien on the Glovers’ homestead in the amount of the embezzled funds. David Glover (the innocent spouse), as well as Jo Ann Glover (the wrongdoing spouse), benefited from the improvements to their homestead without paying any consideration for those improvements. Accordingly, David Glover’s assertion of his homestead right should not protect the Glo-vers’ homestead from forced sale in order to satisfy Sharp’s equitable lien.
First State Bank of Ellinger v. Zelesky, 262 S.W. 190 (Tex.Civ.App.—Galveston 1924, no writ), also supports my position. In that case Joe Zelesky embezzled funds from his employer, the appellant bank, and used those funds to purchase property which he subsequently declared to be his homestead. Jennie Zelesky was without knowledge or fault with respect to her husband’s wrongdoing. The Galveston court held that the constructive trust doctrine was applicable “to its fullest extent.” Zelesky, 262 S.W. at 192. The court, citing Smith v. Green, stated that “[a] wife can never acquire homestead rights in property held in trust by her husband which defeat or impair the rights of the beneficiary of the trust.” Id. In our case, to hold that Sharp cannot force sale of the Glovers’ homestead because of David Glover’s homestead interest is to impair the rights of Sharp, the real owner of the improvements to the Glovers’ homestead which were constructed with funds stolen from Sharp. This I would decline to do.
I recognize, of course, that in Zelesky the stolen funds were used to purchase a homestead, while in the case at bar the stolen funds were used to improve an already-existing homestead. Unlike the majority, however, I perceive no rational distinction between a situation where a thief steals funds which he uses to purchase a homestead and a situation, such as that here, where a thief steals funds which he uses to improve property that had previously been declared homestead. Countenancing such a distinction can only lead to unjust, inequitable, and absurd results. The majority’s holding allows, for example, a victim to enforce foreclosure upon a modest house which was purchased with funds stolen from the victim and then declared by the thief to be his homestead, while foreclosure is unavailable to the victim of a thief who steals a large sum of money which he uses to transform his already-existing homestead from a veritable shanty into a palatial residence. Such a result is untenable. |
Accordingly, I would hold that Sharp has a valid equitable lien against Jo Ann Glover’s undivided one-half interest in the Glo-vers’ homestead in the amount of $5,004.31 and that Sharp may foreclose upon that lien.1
Villarreal v. Laredo National Bank, 677 S.W.2d 600 (Tex.App.—San Antonio 1984, writ ref’d n.r.e.), relied upon by Justice Sparling, does not control our case. A careful reading of Villarreal reveals that *32the creditor s failure to give proper notice to the wife was a major factor in the court’s decision:
In the absence of compliance by [creditor] with foreclosure requirements [the wife’s] estate will survive judicial foreclosure of [the husband’s] interest and sale of the property and the new fee title owner will take the property burdened by [the wife’s] homestead rights for the balance of the estate created in the decree of divorce.
Villarreal, 677 S.W.2d at 608-09 (emphasis added). Thus, the exact rationale underlying the San Antonio court’s decision is unclear. In view of this, I think it preferable to ground our decision in the two cases which I have discussed, Smith v. Green and Zelesky.
GUILLOT, J., joins in this dissent.

. Sharp has, of course, no interest in David Glover’s undivided one-half interest in the Glo-vers’ homestead.