Ilsa Pen Bonham and Texas Hampton Investments v. Texas American Title Company

Opinion

Opinion issued January 16, 2014

In The

Court of Appeals For The

First District of Texas ———————————— NO. 01-13-00772-CV ——————————— ILSA PEN BONHAM AND TEXAS HAMPTON INVESTMENTS, Appellants V. TEXAS AMERICAN TITLE COMPANY, Appellee

On Appeal from the 11th District Court Harris County, Texas Trial Court Case No. 2011-20060

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Appellants, Ilsa Pen Bonham and Texas Hampton Investments, attempt to

appeal from the trial court’s judgment signed May 6, 2013. Appellee, Texas

American Title Company, has filed a motion to dismiss this appeal, contending that appellants’ notice of appeal was untimely. We grant the motion and dismiss

the appeal.

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 90 days after the date the judgment is signed if, within 30 days after

the judgment is signed, any party 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. Id.; TEX. R. CIV. P. 329b(a), (g). The time

to file a notice of appeal may also be extended if, within 15 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 15-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

(Tex. 1997).

Here, the trial court signed the final judgment on May 6, 2013. Appellants

timely filed a motion for new trial on May 15, 2013. See TEX. R. CIV. P. 329b(a).

Therefore, appellants’ notice of appeal was due by August 5, 2013. See TEX. R.

APP. P. 4.1(a), 26.1.

2 Appellants untimely filed their notice of appeal on September 4, 2013.

Without a timely filed notice of appeal, this Court lacks jurisdiction over the

appeal. See TEX. R. APP. P. 25.1.

Accordingly, we grant appellee’s motion and dismiss the appeal for want of

jurisdiction. See TEX. R. APP. P. 42.3(a), 43.2(f). We dismiss any pending motions

as moot.

PER CURIAM Panel consists of Justices Keyes, Bland, and Brown.