Parkway Chevrolet, Inc. v. Melanie D. Martinez and Daniel R. Martinez, II

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: February 2, 2023
• Docket: 14-22-00785-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

Order filed February 2, 2023.

In The

Fourteenth Court of Appeals ____________

NO. 14-22-00785-CV ____________

PARKWAY CHEVROLET, INC., Appellant

V.

MELANIE D. MARTINEZ AND DANIEL R. MARTIN, II, Appellees

On Appeal from the 190th District Court Harris County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. 2017-75206

ORDER

This is an appeal from a final judgment, signed July 15, 2022. As appellant timely filed a request for findings of fact and conclusions of law after the judgment was signed, the notice of appeal was due October 13, 2022. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1(a). Appellant, however, filed the notice of appeal on October 24, 2022, 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 Ctr. 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 within ten (10) days of the date of this order. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.3; 10.5(b). If appellant fails to do so, the appeal is subject to dismissal without further notice for want of jurisdiction. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(a).

PER CURIAM

Panel Consists of Justices Wise, Zimmerer, and Wilson.