Bandit Lawyer Robert Clayton Vilt Moves the Strange Deutsche Bank Case to State Appellate Court

Reply brief filed (Strange/Vilt)

Brief filed – oral argument not requested (DBNTCO/HWA)

Appellants Lana M. Strange and Robert F. Strange hereby file their Sur-Reply to Motion to Dismiss which shall likewise serve as their Appellants’ Brief respectfully show the Court as follows:

1.     Appellants focus this Court on the reality that, irrespective of the fact that Appellant Robert F. Strange filed for bankruptcy protection on July 11, 2023 in Case No. 23-32598 (Chapter 13), Appellee’s legal counsel contacted the Harris County Court Clerk on July 12, 2023, paid a $130.00 fee, and requested that a writ of possession be issued against Appellants – this material fact is undisputed.

2.     Appellee argues that the bankruptcy stay does not apply to them since they had acquired a judgment for possession before Appellant Robert F. Strange filed for bankruptcy protection.

Appellee relies on 11 U.S.C. 263(b)(22) for their legal position and, although they were clever enough on September 07, 2023 (nearly two months after Appellee violated the automatic stay) to convince Judge Christopher M. Lopez to allow them to proceed with the eviction as a result of their prior judgment, this Court is not going to likewise be fooled because Appellants hereby emphasize the crucial parts of the relevant bankruptcy code (which may have not been shared with Judge Lopez prior to his ruling) as follows:

11 U.S.C. 362(22) “The filing of a petition … does not operate as a stay of the continuation of any eviction, unlawful detainer action, or similar proceeding by a lessor against a debtor involving residential property in which the debtor resides as a tenant under a lease or rental agreement and with respect to which the lessor has obtained before the date of the filing of the bankruptcy petition, a judgment for possession of such property against the debtor.”

3.     It is undisputed that Appellee is not a lessor to Appellants and it is undisputed that no lease or rental agreement exists between Appellants and Appellee. Accordingly, the 11 U.S.C. 362(22) is not applicable to this situation.

4.     As such, Appellee violated the automatic stay provision of the Bankruptcy Code, violated Appellants’ due process rights, wrongfully evicted Appellants from their home by throwing prominent citizens of the Tanglewood subdivision and their belongings into the streets ~ this Court should ensure that Appellee fully suffers the consequences of their actions.

PRAYER

Appellants respectfully request that the Court DENY Appellee’s Motion to Dismiss, grant Appellants’ appeal, remand this matter to state court with the instruction that: the judgment rendered on July 06, 2023 be deemed void ab intio,

(2)   Appellants’ be awarded the property which is the subject of this lawsuit, and

(3)   the court set a hearing to determine what further damages Appellants are entitled to as well as for such other and further relief, both at law and in equity, to which Appellants are entitled.

Respectfully submitted,
VILT LAW, P.C.

By:    /s/ Robert C. Vilt

ROBERT C. VILT
Texas Bar Number 00788586

5177 Richmond Avenue, Suite 1142
Houston, Texas 77056
Telephone: 713.840.7570
Facsimile: 713.877.1827
Email: clay@vitlaw.com

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANTS

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that a true and correct copy of the foregoing was served upon Appellee through its counsel of record on December 06, 2023.

Dominique Varner
Anthony Garcia
Michael Weems

Hughes Watters Askanase, LLP
1201 Louisiana Street, 28th Floor
Houston, Texas 77002

/s/ Robert C. Vilt
Robert C. Vilt

The clerk’s record has been filed in the above-referenced appeal.

The court reporter notified this court that a reporter’s record will not be filed.

Appellant’s brief is due on or before Friday, October 6, 2023.

If this information is incorrect, appellant or other party should so advise the court reporter to arrange for payment and filing of the record.

TEX. R. APP. P. 34.6(b)(1), 35.3(b)(3).

Fee paid

Cases Appealed from Lower Courts (OCA) by DBNTCO

Judge Audrie Lawton Evans is the presiding judge of Harris County Civil Court at Law No. 1.

Judge Evans was appointed to her position on August 10, 2021. She also serves as the current Administrative Judge for the Harris County Civils Courts at Law.

Judge Evans earned her law degree from Thurgood Marshall School of Law in 2002 and her Bachelor of Art in History from Loyola University in 1999. In law school, she served as the vice-president of her class, a member of Law Review, and first place winner of the 2001-2002 Helen Dawn Williams Mock Trial competition.

Judge Evans began her legal practice at the Office of the Attorney General of Texas as an Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Litigation Division.

After returning home from Austin, Texas, Judge Evans served as an Assistant Disciplinary Counsel with the State Bar of Texas and a Special Prosecutor with Special Prosecution Unit of Texas.

Prior to her appointment, she worked as an Assistant General Counsel at a local Houston company.

In addition to her service on the bench, Judge Evans has given back to the community by volunteering countless hours to various community service organizations.

She has also served as a speaker and advocate for Implicit Bias training in and around the State of Texas.

Education

Thurgood Marshall School of Law, Houston, Texas
Juris Doctor – May 2002Law Review 2000-2002, Associate Editor
1st Place Winner, Helen Dawn Williams Mock Trial 2001-2002
Class of 2002, Vice-President
Loyola University, New Orleans, Louisiana
College of Arts and SciencesBachelor of Arts-History 1999
Student Bar Association, Member, Pre-Law Mock Trial Competition, Participant
Bar Admissions and Presentations

Admitted to practice law in the Northern, Eastern, Southern, and Western District Courts of Texas.
2017 Presenter, Collections and Creditors’ Rights 15th Annual Course TexasBar CLE, Practice in Justice Courts, Hon. David Patronella-co-presenter.
2022, Presenter, Implicit Bias in the Courtroom, 19th Annual Texas Minority Program.
2022, Presenter, Unconscious Bias in Jury Selection -State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting.

Paid Forcible
FILED BY ROBERT F. STRANGE JR. PAID BY ROBERT C. VILT (ATTORNEY)

Judge Manpreet “Monica” Singh was born, raised, and educated in Houston, and earned her bachelor’s degree from University of Texas at Austin and her JD from South Texas College of Law. Before her election to Harris County Civil Court at Law #4 in 2022—making history as Texas’ first Sikh Judge—she was a practicing attorney for 21 years.

In 2010 she was runner-up for the Houston Young Lawyers Association Most Outstanding Attorney.

The South Asian Bar Association honored her with their Distinguished Member Award in 2017.

Judge Singh has served on the Board of Directors of the ACLU of Texas, the Texas Lyceum, and the Sikh Coalition.

She is a Chapter Representative for the exclusive American Board of Trial Advocates and has taught numerous CLEs topics for University of Texas and the State Bar of Texas- an organization that also awarded her the Texas Diversity Champion Award in 2018.

Judge Singh is a recipient of the national Passion of Excellence Award and a graduate of the Harvard Leadership Program, the FBI Citizens Academy and of Leadership Houston.

She served as a member of Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner’s Transition Team and as a liaison with the Department of Homeland Security.

She enjoys reading, traveling, and being ignored by her teenage boys.