Victoria Bank and Trust Co. v. Brady

In Victoria Bank and Trust Co. v. Brady, 811 S.W.2d 931 (Tex. 1991), the Court said that a releasing instrument must mention the claim to be released to be effective. Id. at 938. Because the release agreement here did not mention the Wolf Point claim, the court concluded it should be applied only to those claims which were mentioned; i.e. those claims involving unpaid fees. 955 S.W.2d at 129. The agreement in Brady purported to release all claims attributable to a specific loan transaction between a bank and its customer. In subsequent litigation between these parties, the customer raised claims relating to another transaction with the bank, and the bank raised the release in defense. In rejecting the bank's defense, we noted that the parties' agreement plainly limited itself to the specific loan and thus did not cover this other transaction. Id. at 939.