(DOWNLOAD) "John Calvin Smith and Lidabel Smith v. Vernon Smith" by Fifth District, Dallas Court of Appeals of Texas * Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: John Calvin Smith and Lidabel Smith v. Vernon Smith
- Author : Fifth District, Dallas Court of Appeals of Texas
- Release Date : January 21, 1988
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 73 KB
Description
The appellants, John Calvin Smith and Lidabel Smith, brought this suit against Vernon Smith, appellee, alleging various violations of the Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act ("DTPA") in the sale of a house by the appellee to the appellants. (We will refer to the parties as appellants and appellee in order to avoid confusion of their names.) Appellee filed a counterclaim to recover the purchase price of the house, to foreclose upon the Deed of Trust given by the appellants to secure the purchase price, and to recover attorneys fees for defending appellants DTPA action on the basis that said action was groundless and brought in bad faith. Appellee was granted partial summary judgment as to his counterclaim to recover the balance due and owing on the promissory note secured by the Deed of Trust. The jury denied appellants recovery on their cause of action and awarded appellee, on his counterclaim, recovery of the purchase price of the house and foreclosure upon his Deed of Trust. The jury also decided that appellants brought the cause of action in bad faith. The trial court then determined that the appellants claim was also groundless. All parties had agreed prior to trial to try the issue of an award of attorneys fees to the trial court. The trial court awarded attorneys fees to appellee in his defense of the DTPA cause of action on the basis of the findings of bad faith and groundlessness.