Lugo v. Ross
August 28, 2012Appellants leased property in Heath, Texas. Under the lease, they were granted the option to buy, which they claim they exercised (even though no closing ever occurred and no title ever passed). Appellees, the landlords, sought to evict the Appellants for violations of the local HOA rules and for failure to pay rent.
The issue the Court of Appeals decided was a narrow one: whether, because Appellants exercised the option to purchase the property, there was no longer a landlord-tenant relationship between the parties so that a forcible entry and detainer suit was improper. The Court found that, even if Appellants exercised the option, they do not have title–equitable or otherwise–and thus rejected Appellants’ argument that a forcible detainer action was improper.
