French v. Moore

• Court: Texas Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: Jane Bland
• Citation: French v. Moore, 169 S.W.3d 1 (Tex. 2004)
• Decision Date: 12 August 2004
• Docket Number: No. 01-03-00445-CV.,01-03-00445-CV.
• Parties: Karen Lyn FRENCH, Nancy French, & Kenneth French, Appellants, v. Marvin Leroy MOORE, Appellee.

Page 1

169 S.W.3d 1

Karen Lyn FRENCH, Nancy French, & Kenneth French, Appellants, v. Marvin Leroy MOORE, Appellee.

No. 01-03-00445-CV.

Court of Appeals of Texas, Houston (1st Dist.).

August 12, 2004.

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Robert Alan York, Holman & Keeling, P.C., Houston, TX, for Appellants.

Tammy Tran, Tammy Tran & Associates, David Tang, Houston, TX for Appellee.

Panel consists of Chief Justice RADACK and Justices ALCALA and BLAND.

OPINION

JANE BLAND, Justice.

Appellants Karen Lyn French, Nancy French, and Kenneth French contend that a Harris County Court at Law lacked subject matter jurisdiction over this lawsuit, because the amount in controversy exceeds the $100,000 jurisdictional limit of that court. In the event jurisdiction exists, they challenge the legal sufficiency of the evidence supporting the trial court's judgment in favor of appellee Marvin Moore. We conclude that the trial court had jurisdiction, affirm in part, and reverse and render in part.

The Facts

Kenneth and Nancy French are husband and wife. They have two daughters, Karen French and Sandra Boyd. Marvin Moore is Sandra Boyd's ex-husband. While Moore and Boyd were married, they encountered financial trouble. Kenneth, Nancy, and Karen French loaned the couple money to assist them with the operation of their business, Moore Moving Systems, and to assist them with their personal expenses. Moore "wanted to expand [the business] and get it out of [their] house." Kenneth and Nancy French owned two pieces of real property located at 17847 Huffsmith Kohrville ("the warehouse property") and 18304 Huffsmith Kohrville ("the office property"), and personal property located on those properties. According to Moore, he entered into a partnership with Kenneth and Nancy French. Their oral agreement provided that Kenneth and Nancy would contribute cash and their warehouse and office property to the partnership. Moore in turn would improve and maintain the warehouse and office property, and pay the utilities and taxes assessed on it. Moore testified at trial that he built a fence, a parking lot, and the "main shell" of the building on the warehouse property, and that the Frenches agreed to "finish out everything." Moore completed the improvements in the spring of 1999. Moore testified that the parties also agreed to expand Moore Moving by developing the Frenches' office property. Thereafter, Moore and Boyd sold their home and invested some of the proceeds of that sale into the office property. The couple divorced in July 2002.

Approximately one week after the divorce became final, the Frenches demanded Moore's key to the warehouse property, and informed him that he had no right to enter the property.¹ Two police officers escorted Moore from the property. Within several days, Moore sued Nancy and Kenneth French in the Harris County Court at Law, alleging wrongful eviction, breach of contract, conversion, and fraud — all in connection with the warehouse property. Moore also sued his ex-sister-in-law, Karen French, for conversion and unjust enrichment, in a dispute over ownership of a tractor. Kenneth and Nancy French countered by filing two forcible entry and detainer actions in the justice court, asking the court to remove Moore from the office and warehouse property. The justice court awarded possession of both properties to Kenneth and Nancy French.

The parties agreed to consolidate Moore's appeal of the justice court rulings with Moore's county court at law suit. Moore then filed a supplemental petition, in which he added damages for claims arising out of the office property. The Frenches counterclaimed, asserting causes of action for breach of contract, conversion, quantum meruit, unjust enrichment, and negligence.

The parties waived their right to a jury, and proceeded to a bench trial. The trial court found no partnership existed, but found against Kenneth and Nancy French on Moore's unjust enrichment and wrongful eviction claims. It awarded Moore damages of $60,000 for unjust enrichment and $5,000 for wrongful eviction. The trial court included another $45,000 for Moore in attorney's fees. In addition, the trial court found Karen French liable to Moore for conversion, and awarded $18,000 in damages. Finally, the trial court found Moore liable to Kenneth French on his counterclaim, and awarded French $6,000 in damages for unjust enrichment. The trial court also determined that Kenneth French owned a trailer, and that Karen French owned an Agmeier Box Scrapper and a Modern Stand Post Digger. It thus ordered Moore to transfer possession of that personal property to Kenneth and Karen French, respectively. The trial court ordered Moore to relinquish possession of the warehouse and office properties, and to release all lis pendens he had filed on the property. It denied all other relief, including the Frenches' claim for attorney's fees.

Jurisdiction and the Amount in Controversy

The Frenches contend that the county court at law lacked jurisdiction over this case because the amount in controversy for Moore's aggregate claims against Kenneth and Nancy French exceeds the trial court's $100,000 jurisdictional limit. In resolving this issue, we consider (1) the standard of review for a challenge to jurisdiction based upon the amount in controversy; (2) the rules to apply in determining the amount in controversy; and (3) the application of those rules to the facts of this case.

Standard of Review

A court must have subject matter jurisdiction to decide a case. Tex. Ass'n of Bus. v. Tex. Air Control Bd., 852 S.W.2d 440, 443 (Tex.1993). The Texas Constitution and legislative enactments confer subject matter jurisdiction, combined with the existence of the facts necessary for a court to exercise jurisdiction. Lee v. El Paso County, 965 S.W.2d 668, 671 (Tex.App.-El Paso 1998, pet. denied). The determination as to whether jurisdiction exists is a question of law, and we review it de novo. Mayhew v. Town of Sunnyvale, 964 S.W.2d 922, 928 (Tex.1998). The allegations in the plaintiff's petition ordinarily establish the amount in controversy for a jurisdictional analysis. Continental Coffee Products Co. v. Cazarez, 937 S.W.2d 444, 449 (Tex.1996). See also Bland Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Blue, 34 S.W.3d 547, 555 (Tex.2000) (jurisdictional challenges based upon amount in controversy "must ordinarily be decided solely on the pleadings"). We presume that a trial court has jurisdiction unless the absence of jurisdiction affirmatively appears on the face of the petition. Lee, 965 S.W.2d at 671. The plaintiff's pleadings are determinative of the amount in controversy, unless the defendant alleges that the amount pleaded was merely a sham to wrongfully obtain jurisdiction. Bland, 34 S.W.3d at 554. If, however, a litigant fails to state an amount in controversy in its petition for recovery, the trial court is not thereby deprived of jurisdiction. Peek v. Equip. Serv. Co., 779 S.W.2d 802, 804 (Tex.1989). Rather, a litigant may prove jurisdiction at trial. Peek, 779 S.W.2d at 804.

When deciding a plea to the jurisdiction, the trial court must consider evidence relevant to the jurisdictional issue if that evidence is necessary to resolve the jurisdictional question, and it has discretion in determining whether the jurisdictional issue can be resolved in a preliminary hearing, or instead requires fuller development of the merits of the case. Id. at 554-55. As the trial court considered evidence in finding that it had jurisdiction, and served as the finder of fact in the bench trial of this case, we review the facts in a light favorable to the trial court's judgment. See Tex. Dept. of Parks and Wildlife v. Miranda, 133 S.W.3d 217, 226 (Tex.2004) (holding that a trial court can consider evidence in connection with a jurisdictional inquiry and that the fact-finder is to resolve fact issues with regard to jurisdiction).

Rules for Determining the Amount in Controversy

Sections 25.0003 and 25.1032 of the Texas Government Code grant jurisdiction to statutory county courts and to the Harris County Civil Courts at Law. See TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. § 25.0003 (Vernon 2004); Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 25.1032 (Vernon 2004). See also Cazarez, 937 S.W.2d at 447-49. The jurisdictional limit of the Harris County Civil Courts at Law is more than $500 but less than $100,000, excluding interest, statutory or punitive damages, penalties, attorney's fees, and costs. TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. § 25.0003(c)(1) (Vernon 2004); Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 25.1032(a) (Vernon 2004). See also Smith v. Clary Corp., 917 S.W.2d 796, 798 (Tex.1996) (stating general jurisdictional rule, and noting "many exceptions" exist).

The Texas Supreme Court and the various courts of appeals have developed a framework for assessing the "amount in controversy" for jurisdictional purposes. First, if one plaintiff asserts multiple claims against only one defendant, the amounts of each separate claim are aggregated to determine the amount in controversy. See Tejas Toyota, Inc. v. Griffin, 587 S.W.2d 775, 776 (Tex.Civ.App.-Waco 1979, writ ref'd n.r.e.) (counter-plaintiff asserted DTPA claim and claims for damage to credit reputation, loss of use of automobile, and attorney fees against counter-defendant; amount of each claim aggregated and exceeded jurisdictional limits of county court). Second, if a plaintiff asserts a single claim through alternative theories of recovery, for the purpose of determining jurisdiction, the amount in controversy is determined by looking to the theory that would yield the largest award. See Lucey v. Southeast Tex. Emergency Physicians Assoc., 802 S.W.2d 300, 302 (Tex.App.-El Paso 1990, writ denied). Third, if one plaintiff asserts separate, independent and distinct claims against multiple defendants, the claims asserted against each defendant are judged separately, and must independently lie within the jurisdictional parameters of the court....