Weizhong Zheng v. Vacation Network, Inc.

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: August 3, 2017
• Docket: 14-17-00153-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

Order filed August 3, 2017.

In The

Fourteenth Court of Appeals ____________

NO. 14-17-00153-CV ____________

WEIZHONG ZHENG, Appellant

V.

VACATION NETWORK, INC., Appellee

On Appeal from the 165th District Court Harris County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. 2013-33555

ORDER

This is an appeal from a judgment signed November 25, 2016. Appellant did file a timely post-judgment motion extending appellate timelines. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1(a). The notice of appeal was due February 23, 2017. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1. Appellant, however, filed his notice of appeal on February 24, 2017, 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