Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, STATE UNFAIR TRADE PRACTICES—TexAppCt: Financial Holding Company Knowingly Misrepresented Foreclosure Sales Proceedings , (Dec 14, 2012)

By Jody Coultas, J.D.

A Texas appellate court upheld a trial court’s judgment that a financial holdings company violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices–Consumer Protection Act (DTPA) by knowingly misrepresenting a liability release form to a home owner (Gonzalez v. Perez, December 13, 2012, Rodriguez, N.).

The home owner sued the company alleging that it wrongfully kept money from a foreclosure sale of her home and made material misrepresentations in violation of the DTPA. After the company sold the owner’s home at auction, the company allegedly demanded the home owner sign a release of liability form in order to receive the excess proceeds of the sale. A trial court entered judgment in favor of the home owner, finding that the company knowingly violated the DTPA. The company argued on appeal that the home owner failed to show that the company knew that the requirement to sign a release in order to receive the excess proceeds was false.

There was sufficient evidence that the company knowingly violated the DTPA, according to the court. The company admitted that they represented to the home owner that she would need to sign a release before she could receive the excess proceeds from the foreclosure sale, even though they knew that this representation was false. The company could not point to any authority or record documentation that supported their argument that the home owner had to sign a release or that they did not know the representation was false.

The case is No. 13-11-00605-CV.

Adrian A. Spears II (Law Office of Adrian A. Spears) for David D. Gonzalez. Nelson Mock (Texas RioGrande Legal Aid) for Anita Perez.

Cases: StateUnfairTradePractices TexasNews