Mohamad G. Alatki v. Tidewater Finaance Company D/B/A Tidewater Motor Credit and D/B/A Tidewater Credit Services

Opinion

Order filed June 23, 2015

In The

Fourteenth Court of Appeals

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NO. 14-15-00281-CV

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MOHAMAD G. ALATKI, Appellant

V.

TIDEWATER FINAANCE COMPANY D/B/A TIDEWATER MOTOR CREDIT AND D/B/A TIDEWATER CREDIT SERVICES, Appellee

On Appeal from the County Civil Court at Law No. 3 Harris County, Texas

Trial Court Cause No. 1055857

ORDER

This is an appeal from a judgment signed February 19, 2015. The notice of appeal was due March 23, 2015. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1. Appellant, however, filed his notice of appeal on March 26, 2015, a date within 15 days of the due date for the notice of appeal. A motion for extension of time is necessarily implied when the perfecting instrument is filed within 15 days of its due date. Verburgt v. Dorner, 959 S.W.2d 615, 617 (Tex. 1997). Appellant did not file a motion to extend time to file the notice of appeal. While an extension may be implied, appellant is still obligated to come forward with a reasonable explanation to support the late filing. See Miller v. Greenpark Surgery Center Assocs., Ltd., 974 S.W.2d 805, 808 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1998, no pet.).

Accordingly, we ORDER appellant to file a proper motion to extend time to file the notice of appeal on or before 10 days after the date of this order. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.3; 10.5(b). If appellant does not comply with this order, we will dismiss the appeal. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3.

PER CURIAM