HOUSTON – The Court of Appeals for the 1st District of Texas has upheld the decision of a trial court in a case of unpaid rent.
Porche Phillips argued that the Harris County Civil Court at Law No. 4 erred when it calculated damages in a judgment against her, but the Appeals Court affirmed the ruling Nov. 27.
Phillips filed the appeal after the Court of Law granted damages to Cullen Park Apartments for a sum of unpaid rent that Phillips was expected to pay for a property she had agreed to rent.
The opinion states in December 2016, Phillips signed an agreement to rent an apartment from Cullen Park Apartments. She was to receive a subsidy from Houston Housing Authority to cover some of the rental costs. However, starting in February 2017, Phillips allegedly failed to pay the unsubsidized portion of the rent. The company sued her and was granted possession over the premises.
“Phillips failed to appear for the trial setting. The trial court proceeded with the trial, heard Cullen Park’s evidence, and signed a judgment awarding Cullen Park possession of the apartment, damages equal to the amount of unpaid rent owed by Phillips, attorney’s fees and court costs," Justice Jane Bland wrote in the court decision. "Phillips appeared in court a week later and learned that the trial court had held a trial and entered judgment. On the same day, Phillips filed a notice of appeal."
According to her argument, Phillips was not evicted for a year and therefore argued that she must have been paying some portion of her rent. She claimed the court miscalculated the money she owed.
However, both courts disagreed.
“Cullen Park and the trial court took the Housing Authority’s payments into consideration in calculating the unpaid rent, by subtracting the amount paid by the Housing Authority from the total amount of rent owed under the lease, so that the damages award corresponds to the portion of the rent that Phillips had the obligation to pay,” Bland's decision stated.
“Because Phillips has not presented legal authority or citations to the record that support her other contentions, any remaining complaint is waived,” Bland wrote.