Possibly Converted

In Melton v. Randall Management, the Fifth Court reversed a summary judgment on a conversion claim, concluding that a property manager’s post-eviction conduct could constitute an unlawful exercise of dominion over the tenant’s belongings.

The Court emphasized that the relevant writ of possession only authorized officers to place the tenant’s property “outside the rental unit at a nearby location” or, at the officer’s discretion, to engage a warehouseman to store it. As the Court summarized, the manager “has not shown, and we have not found, that affirmatively removing and disposing of the evicted tenant’s personal property is one of [those] authorized” options.

Because the manager admitted it ultimately “removed the remaining debris … and disposed of it,” the appellate court held that fact issues existed on whether the disposal was wrongful, making summary judgment improper.The panel also rejected the manager’s effort to rely on the eviction writ as a blanket defense, distinguishing the lawful execution of the writ from the later, independent decision to discard the tenant’s property.No. 05-23-01315-CV, Sept. 8, 2025