Josh Williams v. Balboa Capital Corporation

In the Court of Appeals Second Appellate District of Texas at Fort Worth ___________________________ No. 02-25-00233-CV ___________________________ JOSH WILLIAMS, Appellant V. BALBOA CAPITAL CORPORATION, Appellee

On Appeal from the 342nd District Court Tarrant County, Texas Trial Court No. 342-358024-24

Before Womack, Wallach, and Walker, JJ.

Memorandum Opinion by Justice Womack MEMORANDUM OPINION Appellant Josh Williams attempts to appeal from the trial court’s default judgment entered against him and in favor of Appellee Balboa Capital Corporation.

The trial court signed the default judgment on January 14, 2025. Williams filed a motion for new trial, so his notice of appeal was due April 14, 2025. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1(a)(1). But Williams did not file his notice of appeal until May 20, 2025, making it untimely. See id. We notified the parties by letter of our concern that we lack jurisdiction over this appeal because the notice of appeal was untimely. See id. We warned that we might dismiss this appeal for want of jurisdiction unless Williams or any party desiring to continue the appeal filed a response showing a reasonable explanation for the late filing of the notice of appeal. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(a), 44.3. Williams responded to our letter, stating, “Having reviewed the Court’s . . . letter regarding whether Appellant’s Notice of Appeal was timely filed, []Appellant withdraws [his] Notice of Appeal.”1 The time for filing a notice of appeal is jurisdictional in this court, and without a timely filed notice of appeal, we must dismiss the appeal. See Tex. R. App. P. 25.1(b), 26.1; Jones v. City of Houston, 976 S.W.2d 676, 677 (Tex. 1998); Verburgt v. Because Williams’s response did not contain a prayer or any request for relief, we do not treat it as a voluntary motion to dismiss. Cf. Tex. R. App. P. 42.1(a)(1) (allowing appellate court to dismiss an appeal or affirm an appealed judgment or order “[i]n accordance with a motion of appellant”).

Dorner, 959 S.W.2d 615, 617 (Tex. 1997). Because Williams’s notice of appeal was untimely, we dismiss this appeal for want of jurisdiction. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(a), 43.2(f); Amick v. Campbell, No. 02-24-00540-CV, 2025 WL 285339, at *1 (Tex. App.— Fort Worth Jan. 23, 2025, no pet.) (mem. op.).

/s/ Dana Womack Dana Womack Justice Delivered: June 12, 2025