TEXAS CENTRAL SERVES INJUNCTION LAWSUIT IN KENDALL COUNTY, 250 MILES FROM HARRIS COUNTY WHERE THE PROPERTY IS LOCATED

Jewett, Texas – Following Judge Halbach’s denial of Texas Central’s motion for summary judgment “in its entirety” in the injunction lawsuit against landowner Calvin House, Texas Central attempted to spin the ruling and downplay its significance. In its December 20 press release, Texas Central said that it is looking forward to its day in court, where “we will show in a full trial that state law, established for more than a century, clearly gives railroad companies the right to conduct land surveys without interference.” Trial is scheduled for July 3, 2017.

What Texas Central didn’t say was that it already had its day in court at a hearing in September 2016, when it “passed” on its request for a temporary injunction after Judge Halbach made comments indicating that the request would be denied. Texas Central also left out the fact that Mr. House agreed to go to a “full trial” in November 2016, and that it declined his offer and filed its unsuccessful motion for summary judgment instead. Texas Central ended its statement with the following promise: “Meanwhile, we will continue to work with landowners in a direct and respectful manner as the project moves ahead as planned.”

Unfortunately for Texas Central, actions speak louder than words. Immediately following the release of its statement on December 20, Texas Central began attempts to serve yet another injunction lawsuit against a Harris County landowner. Texas Central filed the lawsuit back in June 2016 in Kendall County near San Antonio, where the landowner lives. In the suit, Texas Central claims harm is “imminent” and “immediate” and that “without examination and survey of the Property, the proposed high-speed rail line project will be indefinitely suspended….” Yet, Texas Central let the case sit idle for months, until October 21 when it requested the necessary papers from the court to serve the lawsuit. Coincidentally, this was just two days after Texas Central filed its motion for summary judgment against Mr. House in Harris County. Texas Central’s fallback plan was in place. If it lost on summary judgment in Harris County, it could move forward with service immediately in Kendall County, 250 miles from the court where it had just lost. Texas Central followed through with its plan and served its lawsuit on January 3.

Blake Beckham, special litigation counsel for Texans Against HSR, said, “After giving up at the temporary injunction hearing and then losing outright on summary judgment in Harris County, it appears that Texas Central now wants to go halfway across Texas to try its identical losing arguments out on a new judge. They’re desperately looking for an easy win against an unsuspecting landowner, hoping that some court, somewhere, will say that this under-funded startup is an actual railroad with eminent domain power in Texas. This is some of the most egregious forum shopping I have experienced in my 30 years of practice.”

Texans Against HSR President Kyle Workman said, “After Judge Halbach’s ruling, we asked Texas Central to stop its harassment of Texas landowners. And what did they do? They served another lawsuit 250 miles away, hoping nobody would find out about it. This is not what I would call working with landowners in a direct and respectful manner. It is deceitful and outright bullying, and it needs to stop.”

Texas Central has sued over 40 landowners in at least six counties to gain access to private property. In each and every lawsuit, Texas Central has claimed it is a railroad with eminent domain authority. Texas Central has also been repeating this claim to landowners for more than a year in an effort to obtain surveys and option contracts. However, no Texas court has ruled in Texas Central’s favor, nor has any court ordered an injunction against a landowner to allow Texas Central access to private property.

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TEXAS CENTRAL IS NOT A RAILROAD, NO EMINENT DOMAIN MAJOR HSR OPPOSITION VICTORY

Texas Central Railroad & Infrastructure’s motion to be declared a railroad with eminent domain authority denied by Harris County judge.

Jewett, Texas – Last Friday, landowner Calvin House and Texans Against High-Speed Rail delivered another devastating blow to Texas Central’s ill-advised Dallas Houston High-Speed Rail project. In Harris County – on Texas Central’s homecourt where it has sued more than 20 landowners – the Court denied Texas Central’s motion for summary judgment “in its entirety.”

In doing so, the Court ruled against Texas Central on its claim that it is a railroad with eminent domain authority and the right to survey private property. As it stands, Texas Central has no legal right to enter onto private property, nor does it have the right to force landowners to sell their property under the threat of eminent domain. In short, everything Texas Central has been telling landowners for the past year has been completely false. Hopefully now, after having lost twice in its own backyard, Texas Central will finally realize that – in Texas – merely saying you’re a railroad doesn’t mean that you are a railroad.

Landowner Calvin House said he is pleased with the ruling, but the whole experience has taken a toll on both his family and his business. “Texas Central came to my property six different times asking for a survey. Every time they told me they had eminent domain. Then, they sued me, and I had to hire a lawyer. Now I see why they never could show me a piece of paper saying they had eminent domain like condemning authorities are required to do. It’s because they never had it to begin with. I’m glad the court ruled in my favor, but I sure didn’t like being harassed for months, sued, and forced into court.”

Our legal team, led by Blake Beckham, Patrick McShan and Alec Pedigo of The Beckham Group, along with Glenn Sodd, Jason Sodd, and Jody McSpadden of the Dawson Sodd law firm, worked countless hours to protect Mr. House’s and all Texans’ private property rights.

Beckham said, “Texas Central picked Harris County, the court, and the landowner. They brought in every bit of legal firepower money could buy. And they lost. Again. This is a landmark victory for all Texas landowners. The ruling makes it crystal clear that Texas Central is not a railroad and does not have eminent domain authority. With no legal authority, no money, and no approval to construct, the project is on a train to nowhere.”

Kyle Workman, president of Texans Against High-Speed Rail, said, “We are not surprised by this decisive ruling, given that Texas Central has never produced proper documentation of eminent domain authority. They knew this issue was before the courts, but that hasn’t stopped them from bullying their way onto property while misrepresenting themselves as a railroad with the power of eminent domain. We call for Texas Central to immediately cease their underhanded tactics to gain access to private property, as they have no right to demand access or coerce option contracts with private property owners.”

Texans Against High-Speed Rail Chairman and Grimes County Judge Ben Leman commented, “Look, this ruling is a smoking gun. This company has been threatening and suing landowners, sending harassing letters, trespassing, and pushing option contracts with the threat of eminent domain for over a year, and they have been doing so without any proof of eminent domain. This is not only egregious, but counter to the way we operate in this great state. The Japanese should reconsider where they implement their train, because in Texas we respect private property rights and will not tolerate this type of behavior.”

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HIGH-SPEED RAIL COMPANY WITHDRAWS REQUEST FOR SURVEY ACCESS

Texans Against High-Speed Rail Calls for Texas Central to Drop Remaining Lawsuits

Jewett, Texas – On Friday, Texas landowners achieved a landmark victory in Houston, where Texas Central withdrew its request for a temporary injunction to survey a Harris County property owned by Calvin House. Texas Central’s lawsuit claimed eminent domain power as a railroad, with the right to survey private property for its ill-conceived high-speed rail project. At the hearing, the judge first wanted to hear from Texas Central representative Shaun McCabe, a vice president with the company. After a skillful cross-examination by Blake Beckham, TAHSR Special Litigation Counsel, the judge questioned Texas Central’s attorney repeatedly about its claim that Texas Central will suffer “imminent harm” if not allowed an immediate survey. The judge also wanted to know why there hasn’t been a hearing in Jim Miles’ suit in Leon County, which was filed back in March. He wondered why – three months ago – Mr. McCabe swore Texas Central needed to survey Jim’s property immediately or it would cause great harm to the project, but Texas Central still hasn’t asked for a hearing in Leon County. The writing was on the wall. The judge was not going to grant an injunction, so Texas Central tucked tail, folded, and withdrew its request.

This was the first hearing held in any Texas court on the issue of whether Texas Central has eminent domain power and the right to get an injunction to survey property. Texas Central picked the county, the defendant, and the court, but still came away empty-handed.

We would like to thank Calvin House for standing up to Texas Central and its bully tactics. Texas landowners have a right to refuse access to their private property, which is exactly what Mr. House did. We also want to thank Blake Beckham and Patrick McShan of The Beckham Group, and Glenn Sodd, Jason Sodd, and Jody McSpadden of the Dawson & Sodd law firm in Corsicana. All five attorneys attended the hearing and have been working tirelessly to defend Mr. House’s and other landowners’ private property rights. Here is the brief our attorneys filed in response to Texas Central’s lawsuit against Mr. House: https://goo.gl/jLDu30

Texas Central still has a number of pending cases against landowners alleging the right to survey, including in Harris County where it just folded in its hearing against Mr. House. Many of Texas Central’s cases target small tracts of land in hopes that these landowners will be financially unable to fight back. Texas Central had its chance and lost. Texans Against High-Speed Rail calls on Texas Central and its affiliates to do the right thing and immediately dismiss these other cases, and stop trying to threaten and bully Texas landowners into giving up their private property rights. We will not back down, and we encourage all Texas property owners not to either.

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