Pre-Consideration Is More Effective Than Reconsideration

Cousins and business partners Matthew and J.W. Jenkins agreed to buy an investment property out of foreclosure. They claimed the negotiated price was to have been $250,000, but the closing documents listed the sale price as $349,000. Stewart Title Co. closed the sale, and J.P. Morgan Chase accepted assignment of the funded loan. The Jenkins sued the title company and the bank on theories including negligent misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty, intentional infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy, and defamation.

Stewart Title and Chase both filed traditional and no-evidence motions for summary judgment. The cousins did not file any response, and the trial court granted summary judgment for both defendants. The Jenkins moved for reconsideration, which the trial court denied. The Jenkins appealed from the denial of the motions for reconsideration, but the court of appeals affirmed. Although the motions for reconsideration proffered evidence contesting the prior summary judgment motions, the plaintiffs did not ask for leave of court to file that evidence, nor did they demonstrate good cause for failing to respond to the original motions in a timely manner. Hence, there was no abuse of discretion in the trial court’s decision to deny reconsideration of the summary judgment rulings.

Jenkins v. Stewart Title Co., No. 05-12-00685-CV