Opinion
No. 04-20-00025-CV
03-10-2020
Diana Martinez MCGLOWN, Appellant v. WELLS FARGO BANK, N. A., Appellee
From the County Court at Law No. 3, Bexar County, Texas
Trial Court No. 2018CV05083
Honorable Melissa Vara, Judge Presiding
ORDER
The trial court signed a final judgment on December 6, 2019. Therefore, the notice of appeal was due to be filed on January 6, 2020. See TEX. R. APP. P. 4.1(a), 26.1. A motion for extension of time to file the notice of appeal was due on January 20, 2020. See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.3. Although appellant filed a notice of appeal within the fifteen-day grace period allowed by Rule 26.3, she did not file a motion for extension of time. 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 grace period provided by Rule 26.3 for filing a motion for extension of time. See Verburgt v. Dorner, 959 S.W.2d 615, 617 (Tex. 1997) (construing the predecessor to Rule 26). However, the appellant must offer a reasonable explanation for failing to file the notice of appeal in a timely manner. See id.; TEX. R. APP. P. 26.3, 10.5(b)(1)(C).
On February 13, 2020, we issued an order requiring appellant to file by February 28, 2020, a response presenting a reasonable explanation for failing to file a notice of appeal in a timely manner. By that deadline, appellant had filed a docketing statement and two documents entitled "Brief;" however, none of the three documents is responsive to our order because none addresses the issue of the timeliness of the appeal or presents a reasonable explanation for appellant's failure to file a notice of appeal in a timely manner.
Therefore, it is ORDERED that appellant file, within fifteen days from the date of this order, a response presenting a reasonable explanation for failing to file a notice of appeal in a timely manner. If appellant fails to respond within the time provided , the appeal will be dismissed. See TEX. R. APP. P. 42.3(c). All other appellate deadlines remain suspended.
/s/_________
Rebeca C. Martinez, Justice
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of the said court on this 10th day of March, 2020.
/s/_________
MICHAEL A. CRUZ,
Clerk of Court