When a new law affects a bank’s right to foreclose, the bank may argue that the law, applied retroactively infringes a vested right to foreclose. Of course generally banks have the right to foreclose, so let’s be clear: none of this reasoning applies, unless a new law prohibits foreclosure of a previously signed deed of […]
This is the text from PNS Stores, Inc. v. Rivera, 379 S.W.3d 267, 271–73 (Tex. 2012): Because there is some inconsistency in our state’s jurisprudence concerning important distinctions between void and voidable judgments and direct and collateral attacks, we begin our analysis with a discussion of clarifying principles. It is well settled that a litigant may attack a void judgment directly or collaterally, but a voidable judgment may only be attacked directly. Hagen v. […]
Generally, in an unambiguous deed, parol evidence cannot be used to ascertain the intent of the parties, so a warranty deed will be held to be a purchase and not a gift, and gift deed will be a gift. Parol evidence will not be received to contradict the instrument. This can have consequences related to […]
When is it too late to equitably reform a deed in Texas? In part, that depends on whether the deed is ambiguous. There is generally a rebuttable presumption that a grantor has immediate knowledge of defects in a deed that result from mutual mistake.8 The court of appeals plurality correctly notes that “[a]pplication of the […]
