Unpaid equipment rental charges not collectible through sworn account suit, Houston CoA says

 

SUIT ON EQUIPMENT LEASE NOT VIABLE AS SWORN ACCOUNT UNDER RULE 185

   

Houston Court of Appeals again states (albeit in a footnote) that failure to pay rental charges for loaned equipment is not actionable as a sworn account under Tex. R. Civ. P. 185 because when goods are merely leased, there is no sale through which title passes.

[The Fourteenth Court of Appeals ] has held that a party may not recover under a sworn account theory when the underlying transaction involved equipment rentals.  See, e.g., AKIB Constr., Inc. v. Neff Rental, Inc., No. 14-07-00063-CV, 2008 WL 878935, at *1–3 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] Apr. 3, 2008, no pet.) (mem. op.) (reversing summary judgment for plaintiff because a sworn account claim cannot be based on leased goods).  See generally 1 Tex. Jur. 3d Accounts & Accounting § 80 (2004) (discussing the inapplicability of a sworn account claim for transactions not passing title to personal property from one party to another).

SOURCE: HOUSTON COURT OF APPEALS - FOURTEENTH DISTRICT - 14-11-00048-CV – 12/13/11