Samuel Kadyebo v. Centennial Court, 01-23-00760-CV

Samuel Kadyebo, acting on his own behalf, sued his landlord, Centennial Court, for wrongful eviction after being evicted via a writ of possession in May 2023.
Kadyebo alleged that Centennial Court obtained the writ through fraudulent representations, wrongfully retained payment from the Arlington Housing Authority, and stole his personal property.
Centennial Court filed a Rule 91a motion to dismiss, arguing the claims had no basis in law due to statutory protections under Property Code §§ 92.332(b) and 24.0061.
The trial court granted the Rule 91a motion and dismissed Kadyebo’s suit with prejudice.
Kadyebo appealed, arguing that his pleadings supported viable legal claims and that the trial court erred in both the scope of its review and its legal conclusions.

Issue	Kadyebo's Argument	Centennial Court's Argument	Held
Application of Prop. Code § 92.332(b) (retaliation bar)	Did not admit rent delinquency and asserted payment via housing authority; thus, retaliation bar did not apply	Claimed Kadyebo admitted rent delinquency; therefore, retaliation claim was barred by law	No admission of delinquency in pleadings; statute not a proper basis for dismissal
Dismissal under Prop. Code § 24.0061(i) (landlord immunity)	Writ was "irregular," fraudulently obtained, not properly executed; damages not solely from writ execution	Claims arose from properly issued writ; statute immunized landlord from damages	No pleading admission of propriety of writ; not all damages stemmed from writ execution; statute did not mandate dismissal
Consideration of Pleading Attachments	Alleged trial court erred by not considering supplemental petition/exhibits	Argued only live pleadings, not supplemental attachments, should be considered	Attachments not germane to central legal questions; not necessary for resolution
Basis for Rule 91a Dismissal	Claims stated a legally viable cause of action; dismissal improper	Claims had no legal basis; court should only consider pleadings, not attachments	Dismissal reversed; claims did not lack basis in law on the pleadings

Bethel v. Quilling, Selander, Lownds, Winslett & Moser, P.C., 595 S.W.3d 651 (Tex. 2020) (Rule 91a authorizes dismissal on grounds of no legal or factual basis, review is de novo)
City of Dallas v. Sanchez, 494 S.W.3d 722 (Tex. 2016) (de novo review of Rule 91a dismissals, factual-plausibility standard)
Roach v. Ingram, 557 S.W.3d 203 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2018) (courts construe pleadings liberally in favor of plaintiff on dismissal motions)
PlainsCapital Bank v. Martin, 459 S.W.3d 550 (Tex. 2015) (statutes should be interpreted to yield just and reasonable results)