Brenda Rodriguez v. Hadi Jafarzadeh and Tradewind Homes, LLC

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: April 29, 2025
• Docket: 01-25-00232-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

Opinion issued April 29, 2025

In The

Court of Appeals For The

First District of Texas ———————————— NO. 01-25-00232-CV ——————————— BRENDA RODRIGUEZ, Appellant V. HADI JAFARZADEH AND TRADEWIND HOMES, LLC, Appellees

On Appeal from the 164th District Court Harris County, Texas Trial Court Case No. 2017-20351

MEMORANDUM OPINION

On April 1, 2025, appellant, Brenda Rodriguez, proceeding pro se, filed a

notice of appeal from the trial court’s February 5, 2024 final judgment. On April 4,

2025, appellee, Jadi Jafarzadeh, filed a “Motion to Dismiss Appeal,” arguing that the Court lacked jurisdiction over the appeal because appellant’s notice of appeal

was not timely filed.

We grant Jafarzadeh’s motion and dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.

Absent a timely filed notice of appeal, we lack jurisdiction over an appeal.

See TEX. R. APP. P. 25.1. Generally, a notice of appeal from a final judgment must

be filed within thirty days after the entry of judgment. See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.1.

However, where a party timely files certain post-judgment motions, the deadline to

file a notice of appeal is extended to ninety days after the entry of judgment. See

TEX. R. APP. P. 26.1(a)(1).

The record reflects that appellant filed a motion for new trial in the trial court.

Accordingly, to invoke this Court’s appellate jurisdiction over the trial court’s

February 5, 2024 final judgment, appellant was required to file a notice of appeal on

or before May 6, 2024. Appellant’s April 1, 2025 notice of appeal was not timely

filed by this deadline.

The time within which to file a notice of appeal may be enlarged, however, if,

within fifteen days after the deadline for filing the notice of appeal, an appellant files

a notice of appeal in the trial court and a motion for extension of time to file the

notice of appeal in the appellate court. See TEX. R. APP. P. 10.5(b), 26.3.

Accordingly, to invoke this Court’s appellate jurisdiction, appellant was

required to file a notice of appeal in the trial court and a motion for extension of time

2 to file a notice of appeal in the appellate court on or before May 21, 2024. See TEX.

R. APP. P. 26.1(a)(1), 26.3. Appellant’s April 1, 2025 notice of appeal was therefore

not timely filed, and appellant did not file a motion for extension of time to file a

notice of appeal in this Court. Because appellant failed to file a timely notice of

appeal, we lack jurisdiction over this appeal.

Jafarzadeh’s motion to dismiss does not include a certificate of conference

stating whether all other parties are opposed to the relief requested. See TEX. R. APP.

P. 10.1(a)(5). However, more than ten days have passed, and no party has responded

to Jafarzadeh’s motion to dismiss. See TEX. R. APP. P. 10.3(a). Accordingly, we

grant Jafarzadeh’s motion and dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. See TEX.

R. APP. P. 42.3(a), 43.2(f). All pending motions are dismissed as moot.

PER CURIAM

Panel consists of Chief Justice Adams and Justices Gunn and Guiney.