Opinion
02-23-00286-CV
09-07-2023
TAP Realty, LLC, 62 Main Street, LLC, Center for Aesthetic Surgery, LLC, G & B Colleyville, LLC and Village Owners Association, Inc., Appellants v. Neighborhood Management, Inc., Appellee
On Appeal from the 352nd District Court Tarrant County, Texas Trial Court No. 352-342154-23
Before Sudderth, C.J.; Kerr and Walker, JJ.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Brian Walker Justice
Appellants attempt to appeal the severance order signed by the trial court on May 5, 2023, after it granted Appellee's plea to the jurisdiction and no-evidence motion for summary judgment on April 13, 2023. On June 8, 2023, Appellants filed their motions for new trial and to strike the severance order. Then, on August 14, 2023, Appellants filed their notice of appeal with this court along with a motion to extend the time to file their notice of appeal. In their motion to extend, Appellants contend that their notice of appeal was due on August 3, 2023-90 days after the trial court signed the severance order-pursuant to Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 26.1(a)(1). Appellants explain that they failed to timely file their notice of appeal "due to an erroneous calculation of the appellate deadlines" in which they "mistakenly calendared the appellate deadline for the wrong date." We must dismiss this appeal for lack of jurisdiction.
The severance order rendered all of Appellants' claims against Appellees final and appealable.
A timely notice of appeal is necessary to invoke this court's jurisdiction. See Sweed v. Nye, 323 S.W.3d 873, 875 (Tex. 2010); Dir. Factory Mgmt. Group, LLC v. PNC Equip. Fin., LLC, No. 02-23-00197-CV, 2023 WL 4630635, at *1 (Tex. App.-Fort Worth July 20, 2023, no pet. h.) (mem. op.). A notice of appeal must be filed within thirty days after the judgment is signed, which can be extended to ninety days if the party files a timely motion for new trial. Tex.R.App.P. 26.1. A motion for new trial is timely only if filed "prior to or within thirty days after the judgment or other order complained of is signed." Tex.R.Civ.P. 329b(a). An appellate court may extend the time to file the notice of appeal if, within fifteen days after the deadline for filing the notice of appeal, the party files (1) the notice of appeal with the trial court and (2) a compliant motion to extend in the appellate court. Tex.R.App.P. 26.3; see Tex.R.App.P. 10.5(b) (providing requirements for content of motions to extend time to file notices of appeal).
Appellants' motion for new trial was untimely as it was due on June 5, 2023, but was not filed until June 8, 2023. Because they did not file a timely motion for new trial, their notice of appeal was due within thirty days of when the severance order was signed-June 5, 2023. See Dir. Factory Mgmt. Group, LLC, 2023 WL 4630635, at *1. But Appellants did not file their notice of appeal until August 14, 2023, nor did they file a timely motion to extend that deadline.
Accordingly, we deny their motion to extend and dismiss this attempted appeal for want of jurisdiction. See Tex.R.App.P. 42.3(a).