George Wood v. Marti Kennedy and Doyle Murphree, Jr., Indvidually as as Temporary Co-Administrators of the Estate of Doyle Murphree, St., 473 S.W.3d 329

Wood occupied a commercial storage building owned by Doyle Murphree Sr., claiming an oral lease at $250/month and a one-year purchase option; he stored materials and made improvements.
After Murphree Sr. died, his daughter Marti Kennedy and son Doyle Jr. (temporary co-administrators) told Wood the deal was off and demanded he vacate; Wood stopped paying rent.
Kennedy sent a certified vacate notice; a justice court entered a default eviction judgment later found to be beyond its jurisdiction and the case was taken to the probate court by writ of certiorari.
At bench trial in probate court, appellees obtained a writ of possession and judgment for $6,250 in unpaid rent (ten months), $297 costs, and $9,189.20 in attorney’s fees and costs advanced.
On appeal, Wood challenged legal and factual sufficiency of rental-damage evidence and sufficiency of attorney-fee evidence. The court found the rental award legally excessive but that some rental damages were supported; it reversed and remanded fees for a new trial.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of evidence for $6,250 unpaid rent	Kennedy: reasonable rental value was $700–$1,500/month based on experience, a nearby comparable, and market research	Wood: no competent evidence to support rent above $250/month under his oral agreement	Court: legal sufficiency fails for $6,250; evidence supports only $2,500 (i.e., $250/month for ten months) — suggested remittitur of $3,750
Nature of tenancy and proper damages measure	Kennedy: tenancy terminated, seeks holdover damages for ten months	Wood: disputes termination and measure	Court: implied find that Wood was tenant at sufferance; proper measure is reasonable rental value, not prior lease, though prior lease evidence may inform value
Admissibility/weight of owner valuation testimony	Kennedy & Ms. Murphree: lay testimony qualified under Property Owner Rule	Wood: testimony conclusory, speculative, insufficient factual basis	Court: owner testimony legally insufficient where witnesses failed to explain factual basis or adjustments for comparables; Justiss controls
Award of attorney’s fees and costs advanced	Kennedy: fees recoverable under Property Code eviction statute	Wood: challenges fee amount and ties to improperly awarded damages	Court: fee award reversed and remanded for new trial because damages award is reduced/remanded and court cannot be sure fee award wasn’t influenced by excessive damages

BMC Software Belg., N.V. v. Marchand, 83 S.W.3d 789 (Tex. 2002) (bench-trial implied findings review and sufficiency standards)
Zac Smith & Co. v. Otis Elevator Co., 734 S.W.2d 662 (Tex. 1987) (implied findings and appellate review)
Catalina v. Blasdel, 881 S.W.2d 295 (Tex. 1994) (legal-sufficiency standards for appellate review)
City of Keller v. Wilson, 168 S.W.3d 802 (Tex. 2005) (standards for reviewing sufficiency of evidence)
Coinmach Corp. v. Aspenwood Apartment Corp., 417 S.W.3d 909 (Tex. 2013) (holdover tenancy distinctions: tenant at will vs. tenant at sufferance)
Gym–N–I Playgrounds, Inc. v. Snider, 220 S.W.3d 905 (Tex. 2007) (holdover tenant definition)
Natural Gas Pipeline Co. of Am. v. Justiss, 397 S.W.3d 150 (Tex. 2012) (limits on owner lay valuation testimony; need factual basis)
Merrell Dow Pharms., Inc. v. Havner, 953 S.W.2d 706 (Tex. 1997) (opinion evidence requirements)
City of Austin v. Teague, 570 S.W.2d 389 (Tex. 1978) (rental value must be established with reasonable certainty)
City of Harlingen v. Estate of Sharboneau, 48 S.W.3d 177 (Tex. 2001) (comparable-sales approach requires similarity and adjustments)
ERI Consulting Engineers, Inc. v. Swinnea, 318 S.W.3d 867 (Tex. 2010) (remittitur when award excessive but some damages provable)
Barker v. Eckman, 213 S.W.3d 306 (Tex. 2006) (when to remand attorney-fee award if damages affect fee determination)
Bunton v. Bentley, 153 S.W.3d 50 (Tex. 2004) (remittitur principles)