Brookfield Funding, LLC, and Vista Pointe Funding, LLC v. Ramey & King Insurance Associates, Inc.

Summary

The Texas Second Court of Appeals considered a restricted appeal from a no-answer default judgment in favor of Ramey & King Insurance Associates, Inc. The court held that the returns of service were defective because they listed only the citations and did not state that the petitions were served, as required by the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. The court reversed the default judgment and remanded the case for further proceedings.

Holdings

1. The returns of service were defective because they did not state that the petition was served with the citation.
2. The default judgment could not stand because defective service constituted error apparent on the face of the record.
3. The court could not consider the email because it was not part of the appellate record and was not before the trial court when it rendered the default judgment.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the returns of service established strict compliance with Texas service requirements when they listed only the citation as the document served and did not state that the petition was served.
2. Whether the trial court's no-answer default judgment could stand in a restricted appeal when defective service appeared on the face of the record.
3. Whether the appellate court could consider an email attached to the appellee's brief that was not part of the appellate record or before the trial court.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded