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Smart Summary

Factual and Procedural Background

The appellees, R. M. Insall and wife, filed suit against Adolph Gold and others in the district court of Colorado County on April 24, 1925, seeking to recover title and possession of 634 acres of land located in Colorado County. The suit alleged trespass to try title and claimed damages for rental value and withholding possession. The defendants, appellants here, answered with a general demurrer and denial.

On September 25, 1927, the appellees amended their petition to include detailed factual allegations that appellants had fraudulently procured a quitclaim deed to the land but in fact held no title, and prayed for cancellation of the deed, quieting of title in appellees, possession, rents, and damages. The appellants filed a plea of privilege on September 26, 1927, seeking to be sued in their home county of Gillespie, which appellees contested by filing a controverting affidavit asserting waiver of venue rights and that the suit concerned land in Colorado County.

After appellants filed an amended plea and answered the controverting affidavit, the trial court overruled their plea of privilege on February 26, 1928. The appellants appealed from this order.

Legal Issues Presented

  1. Whether the appellees' controverting affidavit was sufficient to maintain venue in Colorado County.
  2. Whether appellants waived their right to change venue by answering on the merits in Colorado County before filing the plea of privilege.
  3. Whether the suit was properly maintainable in Colorado County because it involved land located there, thus falling within an exception to the venue statute.
  4. Whether the controverting affidavit was properly sworn to, given that it was made by one attorney before another attorney for the same party.

Arguments of the Parties

Appellants' Arguments

  • The controverting affidavit was insufficient because it failed to specifically set out facts conferring venue and did not incorporate the appellees' petition.
  • There was no preponderance of evidence supporting the facts alleged in the controverting affidavit.
  • The controverting affidavit was not properly sworn to, as it was made by one attorney before another attorney, rendering it a mere statement.

Appellees' Arguments

  • Appellants waived their right to challenge venue by answering on the merits in Colorado County prior to filing the plea of privilege.
  • The suit was for recovery of land located in Colorado County, which is an exception to the exclusive venue statute requiring defendants to be sued in their county of residence.
  • The controverting affidavit properly alleged and supported the facts conferring venue, and was sufficient to overcome the plea of privilege.

Table of Precedents Cited

Precedent Rule or Principle Cited For Application by the Court
Foster v. Railway, 91 Tex. 631, 45 S.W. 376 Waiver of venue rights by answering on the merits before filing plea of privilege. Applied to conclude appellants waived their venue rights by prior appearance and answer.
Kieschnick v. Martin, 208 S.W. 948 (Tex.Civ.App.) Venue exceptions for suits involving land located in the county. Supported the court's holding that venue in Colorado County was proper due to land location.
Dickson v. Scharff, 142 S.W. 980 (Tex.Civ.App.) Venue rules and exceptions related to suits for land recovery. Reinforced the court's reasoning on venue based on land location.
Southern R. I. Plow Co. v. Pitluk, 28 Tex. Civ. App. 327, 63 S.W. 354 Venue exceptions in suits concerning land and waiver of venue rights. Used to affirm the propriety of venue and waiver by answering on merits.
Johnson v. Bryan, 62 Tex. 623 Venue proper in county where land is located in suits to recover land. Confirmed that the suit was properly maintained in Colorado County.
Grimes v. Hobson, 46 Tex. 416 Venue exceptions for land recovery suits. Supported the venue holding in favor of appellees.
Johnson v. Foster, 34 S.W. 821 (Tex.Civ.App.) Venue exceptions for suits involving land. Applied to uphold venue in Colorado County.
Peterson v. Fowler, 73 Tex. 524, 11 S.W. 534 Venue rules for suits to recover land. Used to affirm venue exception for land recovery.
Allen v. Stephanes, 18 Tex. 658 Venue doctrine relating to land suits. Supported venue ruling.
Dangertield v. Paschal, 20 Tex. 536 Venue principles in land possession cases. Reinforced court's venue analysis.

Court's Reasoning and Analysis

The court analyzed whether the appellees' amended petition set forth a new cause of action or merely continued the original suit for recovery of land in Colorado County. It concluded the amended petition did not state a new cause of action but reiterated the claim to the same land and relief as before, including cancellation of a quitclaim deed and recovery of possession and damages.

Because the suit was for land located in Colorado County, venue was proper there under subdivision 14 of the Revised Statutes article 1995, which excepts suits for land from the general venue rule requiring defendants to be sued in their county of residence.

The court further reasoned that appellants waived their venue privilege by answering on the merits before filing their plea of privilege, consistent with the Supreme Court's ruling in Foster v. Railway. The controverting affidavit sufficiently alleged and supported these facts under oath, and the court considered the pleadings as evidence.

The court rejected appellants' contention that the affidavit was improperly sworn, holding that the affidavit was sufficient despite being sworn before another attorney for the same party.

Thus, the court found no merit in appellants' challenges to the sufficiency of the controverting affidavit or the proof of venue facts.

Holding and Implications

The court affirmed the trial court's order overruling the appellants' plea of privilege.

This decision means that the case will proceed in the district court of Colorado County where the land in dispute is located. The ruling confirms the applicability of venue exceptions for suits involving real property and affirms that answering on the merits waives the right to challenge venue. The opinion does not establish new legal precedent but applies existing Texas venue law and procedural rules to the facts presented.

GOLD et al. v. INSALL et ux.

GRAVES, J.

This appeal is from an order of the trial court overruling the appellants plea of privilege to be sued in the county of their residence, Gillespie.

The appellees filed the suit against them in the district court of Colorado county on April 24, 1925, in trespass to try title to 634 acres of land located in that county, and for damages in the sum of $7,000, as for the rental value and withholding possession thereof, praying for title and possession of the land, a writ of restitution, for rents and damages, court costs, general and special relief, etc. On September 14, 1925, appellants answered to the merits, by filing a general demurrer and general denial as their original answer.

On September 25, 1927, the appellees filed their first amended original petition, still asserting that they owned the same land, but specifically pleading in detail the facts upon which they claimed their ownership rested, as a part of which was an averment that appellants had fraudulently procured a quitclaim deed to the land from them in favor of one of them, but had in fact acquired no title thereby, and then prayed as follows:

"Wherefore, premises considered, plaintiffs pray that upon a final hearing of this cause they have a judgment against the defendants, and of this court, placing the title, both legal and equitable, in these plaintiffs, and divesting defendants of said title, and canceling said quitclaim deed, and quieting their title to the above-described property, and for the rental value thereof, and for a writ of possession, and, in the alternative, that they have a judgment for the amount of their damages, above stated, both for the value of the above-described land and the rental thereof, and for costs of court, and for such other relief, general and special, in law and in equity, as they may show themselves entitled to."

In both suits the land was the same, and the parties upon both sides were identical. On the 26th day of September, 1927, appellants filed the plea of privilege herein involved, which, by controverting affidavit filed on September 29, 1927, the appellees declared insufficient, for the reason that the appellants had theretofore entered their appearance in the cause and answered upon the merits, wherefore they had waived the right to question the venue in Colorado county at that late date, and because the suit was to recover land lying in Colorado county.

On February 6, 1928, appellants filed an amended plea of privilege, and thereafter also filed answer to appellees' controverting affidavit. The order of the court overruling the plea of privilege was entered February 26, 1928, and from that order the appeal proceeds.

In this court appellants contend:

(1) That the controverting affidavit was insufficient, in that it failed to set out specifically the facts relied upon to confer venue of the cause upon the district court of Colorado county, and neither referred to nor made the appellants' petition a part thereof

(2) There was no proof establishing the facts set out in the controverting affidavit by a preponderance of the evidence.

(3) The purported controverting affidavit was not properly sworn to, since it was made by one of the attorneys for the appellees before another one of them, and therefore amounted to a mere statement.

None of these propositions, we conclude, can be sustained. The plea of privilege undoubtedly came too late, if the amended petition of the appellees did not set up a new cause of action, and we do not think it did; wherefore the holding of our Supreme Court in Foster v. Railway, 91 Tex. 631, 45 S.W. 376, rules the cause adversely to appellants. See, also, article 2012, Revised Civil Statutes of 1925; Kieschnick v. Martin (Tex.Civ.App.) 208 S.W. 948; Dickson v. Scharff (Tex.Civ.App.) 142 S.W. 980; Southern R. I. Plow Co. v. Pitluk, 28 Tex. Civ. App. 327, 63 S.W. 354.

As has been indicated in the introductory statement, the suit was clearly still one for the recovery of land lying in Colorado county under the amendment, as it had been under the original petition. It is true that in the amended pleading the appellees alleged at length that they turned over to appellants, as security for debts they owed them, certain vendor's lien notes against the 634 acres, which was followed by an agreed foreclosure thereon, with the taking of the resulting title to the land in the name of the appellants in trust for the appellees, as well as by the subsequent execution of a quitclaim deed thereto by the appellees in favor of one of the appellants, coupled with the latters' agreement that they would still hold the title in trust for the appellees, and that appellants had repudiated these agreements by wrongfully retaining the title to the land in themselves; but they also therein averred that they still owned the land, were entitled to the possession thereof, to the rents and revenues therefrom, and that appellants, who merely held the title to it in trust for them under the arrangements referred to, were in duty bound to return it to them. The land and the parties were the same as before, and the prayers of the two petitions asked for no different relief.

The suit, therefore, was still one for the recovery of the land lying in Colorado county, and the venue was properly maintained there, under subdivision 14 of R.S. art. 1995. Johnson v. Bryan, 62 Tex. 623; Grimes v. Hobson, 46 Tex. 416; English v. Hutchins, 2 Posey, Unrep. Cas. 407; Johnson v. Foster (Tex.Civ.App.) 34 S.W. 821; Peterson v. Fowler, 73 Tex. 524, 11 S.W. 534; Allen v. Stephanes, 18 Tex. 658; Dangertield v. Paschal, 20 Tex. 536.

As concerns the sufficiency of the pleading and proof under the controverting affidavit, the two facts relied upon by the appellees to maintain the venue originally laid in Colorado county were: (1) That appellants had waived any right to remove the cause to Gillespie county that might otherwise have inured to them under their plea of privilege, by first answering to the merits in Colorado county; (2) that the suit was for the recovery of land lying in Colorado county, hence "came within one of the exceptions to the exclusive venue to be sued in one's residence," and both of these were not only specifically set out under oath, but were undisputedly shown by the pleadings of the parties, which the court considered in determining the issue. This was sufficient.

Deeming further discussion unnecessary, the judgment has been affirmed.

Affirmed.

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Comments

GOLD v. INSALL
(Jul 12, 1928)