Filed: Aug. 01, 2005
Latest Update: Feb. 21, 2020
Summary: United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit F I L E D IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS August 1, 2005 FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT Charles R. Fulbruge III Clerk No. 04-10941 Summary Calendar THOMAS BRYANT, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus STONEGATE VILLAS; ET AL., Defendants, METRIC PROPERTY MANAGEMENT, INC., Defendant-Appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas (USDC No. 4:03-CV-212-Y) _ Before REAVLEY, HIGGINBOTHAM and CLEMENT, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM
Summary: United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit F I L E D IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS August 1, 2005 FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT Charles R. Fulbruge III Clerk No. 04-10941 Summary Calendar THOMAS BRYANT, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus STONEGATE VILLAS; ET AL., Defendants, METRIC PROPERTY MANAGEMENT, INC., Defendant-Appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas (USDC No. 4:03-CV-212-Y) _ Before REAVLEY, HIGGINBOTHAM and CLEMENT, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:..
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United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
F I L E D
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
August 1, 2005
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT Charles R. Fulbruge III
Clerk
No. 04-10941
Summary Calendar
THOMAS BRYANT,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
versus
STONEGATE VILLAS; ET AL.,
Defendants,
METRIC PROPERTY MANAGEMENT, INC.,
Defendant-Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for
the Northern District of Texas
(USDC No. 4:03-CV-212-Y)
_________________________________________________________
Before REAVLEY, HIGGINBOTHAM and CLEMENT, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
*
Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the Court has determined that this opinion should
not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in
5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4.
We have reviewed the summary judgment record de novo and agree with the
district court that summary judgment was properly granted in favor of Appellee Metric
Property Management, Inc. We agree with Metric Property that Appellant Bryant’s suit
sounded in tort for limitations purposes, and that the suit was therefore subject to a two-
year limitations period under Texas law. Although in November of 2000 Bryant resided
in the apartment alleged to be contaminated, he failed to bring suit until of October of
2002 and then failed to serve the defendant until March of 2003. As to both the personal
injury and property damage claims, summary judgment was warranted because Bryant
failed to file suit and employ due diligence to serve Metric Property prior to the
expiration of the applicable limitations period.
We do not agree with Bryant that the limitations period for his property damage
claims did not begin to run until the publication of the Upah report in March of 2001,
which merely confirmed the existence of certain molds in his apartment. Bryant was a
certified environmental inspector and suspected environmental contamination of the
apartment months before the Upah report issued. In December of 2000 Bryant sought
medical attention and had noticed that his symptoms got worse when he was in his
apartment. Dr. Rea attested that Bryant sought treatment in January 2001 with
complaints of mold exposure. In these circumstances the limitations period was not
tolled until the date of the Upah report. The general rule is that “a cause of action accrues
when a wrongful act causes some legal injury, even if the fact of injury is not discovered
until later, and even if all resulting damages have not yet occurred.” S.V. v. R.V., 933
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S.W.2d 1, 4 (Tex. 1996). The discovery rule is not applicable because it only extends the
limitations period in cases where “the alleged wrongful act and resulting injury were
inherently undiscoverable at the time they occurred . . . .”
Id. at 6. An injury is
considered inherently undiscoverable only “if it is by nature unlikely to be discovered
within the prescribed limitations period despite due diligence.”
Id. at 7. In the pending
case, Bryant suspected mold contamination, complained of such, looked into new ducts
for his apartment, and sought testing for mold before the issuance of the Upah report.
The alleged property damage was not inherently undiscoverable prior to the report.
If we reached the question of the lack of evidence of causation to resist summary
judgment, we would be inclined to agree with the opinion of the district court.
AFFIRMED.
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