NUMBER 13-18-00280-CV & 13-18-00313-CV COURT OF APPEALS THIRTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS CORPUS CHRISTI - EDINBURG PROPEL FINANCIAL SERVICES, LLC, Appellant, v. CONQUER LAND UTILITIES, LLC, Appellee. On appeal from the 206th District Court of Hidalgo County, Texas. OPINION Before Justices Benavides, Longoria, and Hinojosa Opinion by Justice Hinojosa Appellant Propel Financial Services, LLC (Propel) appeals a no-answer default judgment in favor of appellee Conquer Land Utilities, LLC (Conquer), awarding $13,000,000 in damages, and post-judgment orders granting turnover relief and appointing a receiver. 1 By three issues, Propel argues that: (1) the default judgment should be set aside by restricted appeal because error appears on the face of the record; and the trial court abused its discretion in (2) ordering turnover relief and (3) appointing a receiver. We reverse and remand. I. BACKGROUND Propel loaned Conquer $47,383.68. The loan was secured by a twelve-acre tract of land located in Hidalgo City, Texas. After Conquer defaulted on the loan, Propel sold the property at a foreclosure sale. Conquer sued Propel, alleging that Propel wrongfully foreclosed on the property and sold the property for only 5% of its appraised value. A. Service of Citation Conquer filed its original petition on November 1, 2017. The petition identified Kohm & Associates, P.C., as Propel’s registered agent for service of process. Conquer requested that the Hidalgo County District Clerk issue a citation to Propel and serve the citation and petition by certified mail, return receipt requested. See TEX. R. CIV. P. 103, 106. The citation was directed to “Propel Financial Services, LLC c/o Kohm & Associates, PC.”2 On November 9, the clerk filed the following digital return receipt from the United States Postal Service (USPS): 3 1 In appellate cause number 13-18-00280-CV, Propel appeals the default judgment. In appellate cause number 13-18-00313-CV, Propel appeals the orders granting turnover relief and appointing a receiver. We have consolidated the appeals in the interest of judicial economy. 2 An incomplete, unsigned certificate of return was attached to the citation. 3 For readability, we include only the pertinent portion of the digital return receipt. 2 The digital return receipt contained the following reference identification: B. Default Judgment Propel failed to file an answer to the suit, and Conquer moved for default judgment. The motion was heard on December 4, 2017. At the hearing, Conquer’s counsel informed the trial court that “the return of service has been filed with the Court since November 9th.” Conquer then presented the testimony of Francisco Xavier Badir Vasquez Rezzah (Rezzah), Conquer’s managing member. Rezzah testified that the 3 value of the foreclosed property was $4,000,000. He based his valuation on a “2008 or 2009” appraisal of $3,000,080. 4 Rezzah stated that he planned to develop two hotels and a commercial shopping center on the property. He estimated that “the loss of not being able to develop [on] this land is about $15,000,000 and $20,000,000.” Rezzah requested the trial court award $13,000,000 in damages, which he represented to be “the value of the property plus some ...
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