Contract Prevails Over Statutory Law
Commercial litigator Austin Texas
Tags: Contract Law
We are guided instead by the rule described in American National Insurance Co. v. Tabor, 111 Tex. 155, 23 S.W. 397 (1921). In that case, the supreme court held that, unless a contract is declared by law to be void or unenforceable, a court should not refuse to enforce a contract simply because it is in contravention of a statute. See id. at 160, 23 S.W. at 399; accord Borger v. Brand, 131 Tex. 614, 619, 118 S.W.2d 303, 306 (1938); Davis v. Hendrick Autoguard, Inc., 294 S.W.3d 835, 840 (Tex. App.-Dallas 2009, no pet.); New Boston Gen. Hosp., Inc. v. Tex. Workforce Comm'n, 47 S.W.3d 34, 40 (Tex. App.-Texarkana 2001, no pet.). The court explained that if the legislature has expressly provided that other consequences may arise from violation of the statute, a reviewing court should reasonably infer that those consequences were adjudged to be adequate to secure the statute's observance, and that only those remedies should be applied. Tabor, 111 Tex. at 160, 23 S.W. at 399.
International Risk Control LLC v. Seascape Owners Association, (Tex. App. - Houston [14th Dist.] 2013).