Jane Doe v. HPA Texas Sub 2017-1-ML, LLC

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: May 25, 2023
• Docket: 02-23-00092-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

In the Court of Appeals Second Appellate District of Texas at Fort Worth ___________________________ No. 02-23-00092-CV ___________________________

JANE DOE, Appellant

V.

HPA TEXAS SUB 2017-1-ML, LLC, Appellee

On Appeal from County Court at Law No. 2 Tarrant County, Texas Trial Court No. 2023-001870-2

Before Birdwell, Bassel, and Womack, JJ. Per Curiam Memorandum Opinion MEMORANDUM OPINION

Appellant Jane Doe attempts to appeal from an order sustaining a contest to

her affidavit of inability to pay for an appeal and declaring that she was able to pay

court costs and an appeal bond in her eviction case. See Tex. R. Civ. P. 510.9.

“As a general rule, appeals may be taken only from final judgments.” Sabre

Travel Int’l, Ltd. v. Deutsche Lufthansa AG, 567 S.W.3d 725, 730 (Tex. 2019). “Unless a

statute authorizes an interlocutory appeal, appellate courts generally only have

jurisdiction over final judgments.” CMH Homes v. Perez, 340 S.W.3d 444, 447 (Tex.

2011).

After Appellant filed her notice of appeal, we sent her a letter expressing our

concern that we may not have jurisdiction over the appeal because the order does not

appear to be a final judgment or an appealable interlocutory order, see Tex. Civ. Prac.

& Rem. Code Ann. § 51.014(a); Lehmann v. Har-Con Corp., 39 S.W.3d 191, 195 (Tex.

2001), and because the Rules of Civil Procedure applicable to eviction suits do not

otherwise provide a mechanism for appeal of such an order. See Tex. R. Civ. P.

500.3(e), 510.9; Ferguson v. Self, No. 02-21-00279-CV, 2021 WL 4783163, at *1 (Tex.

App.—Fort Worth Oct. 14, 2021, no pet.) (per curiam) (mem. op.). We warned

Appellant that unless she or any party desiring to continue the appeal filed a response

showing grounds for continuing the appeal, the appeal could be dismissed for want of

2 jurisdiction. See Tex. R. App. P. 44.3. Appellant filed a response, but it does not state

adequate grounds for continuing the appeal.1

We therefore dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction. See Tex. R. App. P.

42.3(a), 43.2(f).

Per Curiam

Delivered: May 25, 2023

1 For example, Appellant argued that there had been “bias per the judge” and that “[t]his appeal is valid and needs to be done because now they are now not telling the truth.”