Soil-Structure Interaction Seminar - Foundation Performance ...

The Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act
and Foundation Cases: The Defendant's Perspective
or
Are Foundation Cases All They Are Cracked Up to Be?
I. Who Steals My Purse Steals Trash
Presented by Daniel F. Shank
Davis & Shank, P.C.
1415 Louisiana, Suite 4200
Houston, Texas 77002
(713) 659-1010
IAoo: Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls.
Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing;
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him,
And makes me poor indeed.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, OTHELLO act 3, sc. 3.
ll. Texas Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act (DTPA) --Texas Business
& Commerce Code §§ 17.41 et seq. (Vernon 1987 & Supp. 1994).
m.
A. Who Can Sue? Plaintiff must be a "consumer"
1. Consumer:
a. Must "seek or acquire"
b. "goods or services"
( 1) DTP A covers mixed purchases of goods and services, such
as construction of a house. Norwood Builders, Inc. v.
Toler, 609 S.W.2d 861 {Tex. Civ. App.--Houston [14th
Dist.] 1980, writ rerd n.r.e.) (holding that a contract for
the construction of a new home is a "sale of goods").