BENCHMARK BANK, PETITIONER v. FRANK L. CROWDER AND MARION N. CROWDER, RESPONDENTS, 919 S.W.2d 657

Summary

Respondents, husband and wife, paid loan proceeds from petitioner bank to the IRS and the IRS released its lien against respondent husband's corporation. Petitioner had a lien against respondents' homestead and subrogation rights to any lien the loan proceeds were used to pay. Respondents defaulted on the loan and petitioner foreclosed and sold the property at a nonjudicial sale. The appellate court concluded that petitioner was precluded from enforcing the IRS lien by the homestead protection under Tex. Const. art. XVI, § 50. The court reversed the part of the judgment that denied petitioner's motion for summary judgment because petitioner was subrogated to the IRS's federal tax lien and was entitled to enforce the lien against respondents' homestead by foreclosure. The IRS' release of its lien against respondent husband did not extinguish petitioners right to subrogation. The court affirmed and remanded the part of the judgment that reversed the summary judgment to respondent wife's ...