Under Texas law, the Statute of Frauds requires that contracts regarding the sale of lands be in writing. There are some exceptions to this “in writing” requirement, particularly if the buyer has partially performed under the contract. The case of Zaragoza v. Jessen provides a good reminder of the principles…
In a recent case, FP Stores Inc. v. Tramontina US, Inc., the Houston Court of Appeals provided guidance, for the first time, on what constitutes “bad faith” by a commercial landlord that fails or refuses to return a security deposit. Facts of the Case The FP Stores case involved a…
A recent Texas Supreme Court case, Allen-Pieroni v. Pieroni, teaches that the proper measure of damages for a slander of title suit is the difference between the lost contract price on the property and the fair market value when the slanderous cloud on title is removed. Texas Slander of Title:…
The new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed into law by President Trump has important implications for Texas home owners. The National Association of Realtors provides a concise summary of the new law on its website, which you can access here. These changes include: Gain on Sale of a Principal…
Nuisance claims are a bit of a muddled area of Texas law. As Justice Boyd stated in the opinion: “This is a nuisance case, but that does not tell you much. As a legal concept, the word nuisance ‘has meant all things to all people.’ ” Because of the confusion,…
On November 7, 2017, Texas voters approved SJR 60. You can review the text of the new law here. This law includes several amendments to Article XIV, Section 50 of the Texas Constitution that concern home equity loans. Highlights of the amendments include but are not limited to: changing the…
The Texas Supreme Court recently addressed whether a lender is required to forfeit payment and interest payments made by a borrower when the lender has violated the terms of a home equity loan, and whether this a remedy is a matter of right available under the Texas Constitution or through…
What happens when a Texas family discovers that the home equity loan on their home did not satisfy the constitutional requirements for homestead liens in the Texas Constitution? In the case of Wood v. HSBC Bank, the Wood family took out a home equity loan on their home in 2004.…
In a case that is probably a recurring nightmare for oil and gas attorneys, the Texas Court of Appeals recently addressed the question of what constitutes a material change to a written agreement involving the purchase of oil and gas leases in the case of Ranger Energy LLC v. Tonya…
The Texas Supreme Court recently decided an important real estate case in Town of Lakewood Village v. Bizios. Bizios was lived outside of Lakewood Village, Texas. Bizios was sued by Lakewood Village for not applying for or obtaining building permits when he began building his home. Lakewood Village, which is…