CONTINUING TRESPASS IS NOT NECESSARILY AN IRREPARABLE INJURY

WBW Holdings, LLC v. Clamon

Dallas Court of Appeals, No. 05-20-00397-CV (November 12, 2020)

Justices Myers, Nowell (Opinion available here), and Evans

Good fences make good neighbors … sometimes. Two parties owning adjoining land became involved in a dispute about whether the boundary between their properties was the center line of the county road between them or to the south of that road. Taking the latter position, the Clamons erected a fence between the WBW property and the county road (allegedly on their property), barring WBW’s access to the road, and WBW cut the fence to regain access.

Litigation ensued, and the trial court granted a temporary injunction, enjoining WBW from crossing over the boundary asserted by the Clamons. The Clamons argued they had “no adequate remedy, short of injunctive relief, to stop WBW’s representatives from trespassing on their land” and that trespassing on land “is of such a nature that the damage to the Clamon brothers is irreparable; it simply cannot be measured by any pecuniary standard.” The Dallas Court disagreed, holding that trespass alone is not an irreparable injury. The Clamons failed to demonstrate that the alleged trespass would invade the possession of their land, destroy the use and enjoyment of their land, or cause potential loss of rights in real property. With no evidence of a probable, imminent, and irreparable injury, the trial court erred in granting the injunction.