In Owen v. Jim Allee Imports, Inc., — S.W.3d —-, 2012 WL 3755750 (Tex.App.-Dallas 2012), the Texas Court of Appeal held (again) that it was so well-settled and proper for a car dealer to roll trade-in negative equity into the purchase price of the RISC that a Plaintiff’s counsel should be sanctioned for arguing otherwise.
In Bledsoe, this Court considered the appeal from a judgment awarding damages for a cash price violation. Bledsoe Dodge, L.L.C. v. Kuberski, 279 S.W.3d 839, 841 (Tex.App.-Dallas 2009, no pet.). Like the case before us, Bledsoe involved the purchase of a vehicle in which the sales contract, as negotiated, rolled the negative equity into the purchase price. Id. We concluded that negative equity is not a finance charge and, thus, the evidence was insufficient to establish a cash price violation. Id. at 843–44. ¶ In Stephens, Owen, as co-counsel for the Stephenses, brought an appeal of a take nothing judgment in favor of Friendly Chevrolet. Stephens v. Friendly Chevrolet, Ltd., No. 05–08–00881–CV, 2009 WL 3385283, *1 (Tex.App.-Dallas Oct. 22, 2009, no pet.) (mem.op.). There, the Stephenses argued the trial court erred in its conclusion that a lender does not violate the Texas Finance Code when it includes financed negative equity in the stated cash price of a retail installment contract for a vehicle. Id. In that opinion, we noted that, although the Stephenses acknowledged that Bledsoe was dispositive, they urged that it was wrongly decided and should not be followed. Id. We declined to revisit the issue in that case and, based on the reasoning in Bledsoe, concluded the trial court did not err. Id. . . .¶ Based upon the record before us, we conclude the cash price violation claim was not warranted by ex-isting law and was groundless. See TEX.R. CIV. P. 13; TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM.CODE ANN. § 10.001; TEX. BUS. & COM.CODE ANN. § 17.50(c). Thus, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in awarding sanctions to RW.FN9 See Low, 221 S.W.3d at 614; Mosk, 183 S.W.3d at 696. We overrule Owen’s first issue.FN10