Cooksey v. Sinder, C-3562

• Decision Date: 12 December 1984
• Docket Number: No. C-3562,C-3562
• Citation: 682 S.W.2d 252
• Parties: Helen L. COOKSEY, Petitioner, v. Michael SINDER et al., Respondents.
• Court: Texas Supreme Court

Page 252

682 S.W.2d 252

Helen L. COOKSEY, Petitioner, v. Michael SINDER et al., Respondents.

No. C-3562.

Supreme Court of Texas.

Dec. 12, 1984.

Ferrero, Brasch, Friebele & Mardis, Randell W. Friebele, Harlingen, Yzaguirre, Chapa & Rocha, Juan Rocha, Jr., McAllen, for petitioner.

PER CURIAM.

Helen Cooksey asks this court to render judgment that she be allowed to foreclose on a real property lien. Cooksey sold some property to Michael Sinder and his wife on March 4, 1980. The Sinders signed a promissory note and Cooksey executed a warranty deed with vendor's lien, which among other things provided for a retention of superior title in Cooksey until the note was paid in full. This deed was properly filed in the Hidalgo County deed records prior to any subsequent sales of the subject property.

Two years later, Michael and Peggy Sinder sold the property by assumption deed to Michael's parents, Allan and Betty Sinder, who later sold a portion of the property to Tierra Buena Investment, Inc. Thereafter, Michael and Peggy Sinder defaulted on their note to Cooksey. Cooksey sought judgment on the note and to foreclose the lien on the property owned by the Sinder parents and Tierra Buena. Cooksey obtained summary judgment against Michael and Peggy Sinder for the amount owed on the note, but the trial court rejected her motion for summary judgment against the Sinder parents and Tierra Buena for foreclosure on the lien. The trial court, however, granted Tierra Buena and the Sinder parents their requested summary judgment, denying foreclosure on the property and prohibiting Cooksey from recording or foreclosing the lien against them.

In an unpublished opinion, the court of appeals reversed the order prohibiting foreclosure. It held that while Tierra Buena's and the Sinder parents' innocent purchaser defense would bar foreclosure, this was a disputed fact question. Therefore, the court of appeals remanded the case for a trial on the merits. Cooksey asks this court to reverse the appellate court's order of remand and to render judgment allowing her to foreclose on her lien.

In order for Cooksey to be entitled to foreclosure as a matter of law, she must negate at least one of the three necessary elements of the innocent purchaser defense. She must establish that Tierra Buena and the Sinder parents did not buy the property in good faith, or that they did not purchase the land for value, or that they did have legal notice of her lien. See Strong v. Strong, 128...