Samuel Aguocha v. Newrez LLC, F/K/A New Penn Financial, LLC D/B/A Shellpoint Mortgage Servicing

Opinion

Order filed December 29, 2020

In The

Fourteenth Court of Appeals ____________

NO. 14-20-00797-CV ____________

SAMUEL AGUOCHA, Appellant

V.

NEWREZ LLC, F/K/A NEW PENN FINANCIAL, LLC D/B/A SHELLPOINT MORTGAGE SERVICING, Appellees

On Appeal from the 151st District Court Harris County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. 2015-30304

ORDER This is an appeal from a judgment signed August 17, 2020. Appellant timely filed a post-judgment motion. The notice of appeal was due November 16, 2020. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1. Appellant, however, filed the notice of appeal on November 25, 2020, a date within 15 days of the due date for the notice of appeal. A motion to extend 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 January 8, 2021. 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.

Panel consists of Justices Christopher, Wise, and Hassan.