Bazile v. Tamborello, 255
| Decision Date | 11 June 1969 |
| Docket Number | No. 255,255 |
| Citation | 442 S.W.2d 923 |
| Parties | Lena BAZILE, Appellant, v. Lynne TAMBORELLO, Appellee. . Houston (14th Dist.) |
| Court | Texas Court of Appeals |
Les Fleming, Houston, for appellant.
Ronald C. Kline, Bracewell & Patterson, Houston, for appellee.
This is an appeal from a summary judgment rendered on motion of the defendant. The plaintiff in the trial court, appellant here, was Lena Bazile. By her petition she sought recovery of damages for an alleged libel and also because of an alleged wrongful posting of notice of foreclosure.
In August, 1966, the plaintiff bought from the defendant a residence located at 3702 Bluebonnet Street, Houston, Texas. The consideration paid was part cash and a note secured by a vendor's lien and a deed of trust lien. After buying the property the plaintiff made some improvements on it and then listed it for sale with a real estate agent named Sam Feldt.
On January 21, 1967, the defendant sent to the plaintiff's lawyer this telegram:
'Lena Bazil has a Sanseldt sign on 3702 Bluebonnet which I sold to her. Sanseldt is a notorious block buster. Unless the paid tax receipt are delivered to me Monday morning showing that the 1966 state and county taxes wre paid before maturity I shall ask Mr. Rector to mature my note and post the property for foreclosure.
Lynne Tamborello'
This is the publication that the plaintiff alleged to be libelous of her. She alleged that the telegram was libelous of her because it meant that she was proposing to sell her property to a member of a minority race.
First we hold that the language of the telegram, even if construed as contended by the plaintiff, was not libel. The statement that one proposes a sale of property to a member of a minority race does not expose one to 'public hatred, contempt or ridicule, or financial injury' nor does such statement 'impeach the honesty, integrity, or virtue, or reputation of any one.' This statement is, therefore, not libelous. Article 5430, Vernon's Ann. Tex.Civ.St.
Furthermore, the statement, if it were libelous, does not contain any libelous language directed at the plaintiff. The person identified as being a 'block buster' is the real estate agent. The statement does not contain any language suggesting that the plaintiff knowingly used the services of the real estate agent for the purpose of accomplishing a sale to a member of a minority group. Newspapers, Inc. v. Matthews, 161 Tex. 284, 339 S.W.2d 890, 100 A.L .R.2d 218.
The trial court properly sustained the motion for summary judgment insofar as the plaintiff sought recovery for libel.
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Pachter v. Woodman, 903
...Farm Credit Co., 67 S.W.2d 626 (Tex.Civ.App.--Eastland 1933) aff'd 80 S.W.2d 295 (124 Tex. 538); Bazile v. Tamborello, 442 S.W.2d 923 (Tex.Civ.App.--Houston 1969, writ ref'd n.r.e.); 55 Am.Jur.2d Mortgages sec. 382, p. Appellant's attorney admits in his affidavit that he received Woodman's ......
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