Umesh Bhatia v. American Express National Bank

Opinion

Order filed April 13, 2021

In The

Fourteenth Court of Appeals ____________

NO. 14-21-00092-CV ____________

UMESH BHATIA, Appellant

V.

AMERICAN EXPRESS NATIONAL BANK, Appellee

On Appeal from County Civil Court at Law No. 2 Harris County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. 1159992

ORDER

This is an appeal from a judgment signed January 15, 2021. The notice of appeal was due February 15, 2021. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1. Appellant, however, filed the notice of appeal on February 22, 2021, 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 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 Panel consists of Justices Wise, Zimmerer, and Poissant.