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contract signing or when he takes occupation. The Supreme Court
of Texas adopted the judgment in Leeson. Relying on these cases,
petitioners argue:
Petitioners’ gift to the Church was completed in 1994
when Petitioners and the Church executed the Contract
[for deed]. Such act gave the Church unrestricted
possession of the Property and equitable title to the
Property. At such time, the Church had the risk of
loss from destruction of improvements upon the Property
or decrease in the Property's value. The Church also
had the benefit of any increase in value of the
Property. In fact, the Church had all obligations and
benefits of ownership of the Property.
In order to determine the rights given to a purchaser under
Texas law it is necessary to examine the precedential value of
both lines of cases. Both Johnson v. Wood, supra, and Leeson
were decided by the Texas Commission of Appeals, an adjudicative
body formed to alleviate the workload of the higher courts of
Texas. See Club Corp. of Am. v. Concerned Property Owners, supra
at 625-626 (citing Texas Law Review Association, Texas Rules of
Form, ch. 5, at 14-17 (8th ed. 1995)). The precedential value of
a case decided by the commission depends on whether the opinion
was adopted, the holding was approved, or the judgment was
adopted by the Supreme Court of Texas. See id. at 626. If the
Supreme Court adopts the commission's opinion, then it is treated
as a precedent having the full authority of a Supreme Court of
Texas decision. See id. If the Supreme Court merely approves
the holding or adopts only the judgment, then the precedential
value of the commission's opinion is limited. See id.
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