Unreported / Non-Citable
Background
Village Place Community Association sued homeowners Robert and Lana Strange in 2017 over unpaid annual maintenance assessments. After unsuccessful attempts to obtain default and summary judgments, the association tried the case to the court in October 2024. The trial court ruled for the association, awarding past-due assessments and attorney’s fees and ordering foreclosure of the association’s lien.
Representing themselves on appeal, the Stranges alleged that the association introduced false documents and testimony at trial. They also argued that a 2017 payment had satisfied the amounts then due, that res judicata barred certain claims, and that assessments arising from 2018 through 2024 had not been pleaded and could not be collected in the lawsuit. They sought reversal or a new trial as well as sanctions against the association and its counsel.
The Court’s Holding
The First Court of Appeals affirmed. Because the appellate record contained no reporter’s record of either the bench trial or the hearing on the motion for new trial, the court could not determine what evidence was admitted, whether the Stranges preserved objections, whether any evidentiary ruling was erroneous or harmful, or whether purportedly new evidence probably would have changed the result. The missing transcript likewise prevented review of the Stranges’ res judicata and offset arguments.
The court was required to presume that the trial evidence supported the trial court’s findings and judgment. It also refused to consider documents attached to the Stranges’ appellate brief because documents that are not formally included in the appellate record cannot substitute for a proper record. Given the record before it, the court found no basis to disturb the judgment and overruled the Stranges’ complaints.
Key Takeaways
- An appellant challenging rulings made during a bench trial must provide a record sufficient to show preservation, error, and harm.
- When the reporter’s record from a bench trial is absent, an appellate court presumes the omitted evidence supports the trial court’s findings and judgment.
- Documents attached to an appellate brief cannot be considered unless they are formally part of the appellate record.
Why It Matters
The decision underscores that appellate review depends on the record, not merely on allegations about what occurred at trial. Even potentially substantive challenges to an HOA’s accounting, pleaded claims, or evidence cannot be evaluated when the appellant fails to supply the trial transcript needed to establish the relevant facts and preserved objections.
The court did not resolve the merits of the Stranges’ fraud, payment-allocation, res judicata, offset, or pleading theories. It affirmed because the incomplete appellate record required presumptions supporting the trial court’s judgment.