Opinion
01-21-00649-CV
01-25-2022
TERRANCE COBURN, Appellant v. HP HEIGHTS LLC, ROBERT CROMIE, SARA CROMIE, JACOB RAINEY, AND LAGRANGE LLC, Appellees
On Appeal from the 80th District Court Harris County, Texas Trial Court Case No. 2020-27157
Panel consists of Chief Justice Radack and Justices Kelly and Landau.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
PER CURIAM
Appellant, Terrance Coburn, filed a notice of appeal on August 11, 2021 attempting to appeal the trial court's final judgment signed on June 16, 2021. Appellees have filed a motion to dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction because the notice of appeal was untimely. We grant the motion and dismiss the appeal.
Absent a timely filed notice of appeal, an appellate court lacks jurisdiction over the appeal. Tex.R.App.P. 25.1; In re United Services Auto. Ass'n, 307 S.W.3d 299, 307 (Tex. 2010). Generally, a notice of appeal is due within thirty days after the judgment is signed. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1. The deadline to file a notice of appeal is extended to ninety days after the date the judgment is signed if, within thirty days after the judgment is signed, any party timely files a motion for new trial, motion to modify the judgment, motion to reinstate, or, under certain circumstances, a request for findings of fact and conclusions of law. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1(a); Tex.R.Civ.P. 329b(a), (g). The time to file a notice of appeal may also be extended if, within fifteen days after the deadline to file the notice of appeal, a party properly files a motion for extension. See Tex. R. App. P. 10.5(b), 26.3. A motion for extension of time is necessarily implied when an appellant, acting in good faith, files a notice of appeal beyond the time allowed by Rule 26.1, but within the fifteen-day extension period provided by Rule 26.3. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1, 26.3; Verburgt v. Dorner, 959 S.W.2d 615, 617-18 (Tex. 1997).
Here, the trial court's final judgment was signed on June 16, 2021. Over thirty days later, on August 11, 2021, appellant filed (1) a motion for new trial and a request for findings of fact and conclusions of law and (2) a notice of appeal from the final judgment.
Motions for new trial are timely if filed within thirty days after the complained-of judgment or order is signed. Tex.R.Civ.P. 329b(a). Under this rule, appellant's deadline for filing a motion for new trial was July 16, 2021. See id. Because appellant's motion for new trial was not timely, the motion did not extend the deadline for filing his notice of appeal. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1(a) (providing that timely filed motion for new trial extends time for filing notice of appeal). Therefore, appellant's deadline to file his notice of appeal was July 16, 2021. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1.
Appellant's notice of appeal was untimely filed on August 11, 2021, twenty-six days after the Rule 26.1 deadline and past the fifteen-day period in which Rule 26.3 authorizes us to grant an extension. Once the period for granting a motion for extension of time under Rule 26.3 has passed, a party can no longer invoke the appellate court's jurisdiction. See Verburgt, 959 S.W.2d at 617; Brown Mech. Servs., Inc. v. Mountbatten Sur. Co., 377 S.W.3d 40, 44 (Tex. App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 2012, no pet.). Without a timely filed notice of appeal, this Court lacks jurisdiction over the appeal. See Tex. R. App. P. 25.1.
On November 30, 2021, appellees filed a motion to dismiss this appeal for want of jurisdiction due to appellant's untimely notice of appeal. Appellant did not file a response to the motion. Accordingly, we grant appellees' motion and dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(a), 43.2(f). We dismiss any other pending motions as moot.