Opinion issued July 25, 2023

In The 

## Court of Appeals For The 

## First District of Texas

———————————— NO. 01 - 2 3 - 00 324 - CV

——————————— ZEN VENTURES, LLC , Appellant

V. PROPEL FINANCIAL SERVICES, AS AGENT AND ATTORNEY IN

FACT FOR FNA VI, LLC , Appellee On Appeal from the 61st District Court Harris County, Texas Trial Court Case No. 20 19 - 79189 MEMORANDUM OPINION On May 1 , 2023, a ppellant, Zen Ventures, LLC , filed a notice of appeal of the trial court’s February 1, 2023 final judgment
. We dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.2

Any party “seek[ing] to alter the trial court ’ s judgment ” must timely file a notice of appeal. T EX . R. A PP . P. 25.1(c)
. I f a party fails to timely file a notice of appeal, we have no jurisdiction to address th e merits of that party ’ s appeal. See T EX . R. A PP . P. 25.1 (b); In re K.L.L. , 506 S.W.3d 558, 560 (Tex. App.

— Houston [1st Dist.] 2016, no pet.) (without timely notice of appeal, appellate court lacks jurisdiction over appeal); Brashear v. Victoria Gardens o f McKinney, L.L.C. , 302 S.W.3d 542, 545

– 46 (Tex. App.

— Dallas 2009, no pet.) (timely filing of notice of appeal is jurisdictional prerequisite). Generally , a notice of appeal is due within thirty days after the trial court signs its judgment. See T EX . R. A PP . P. 26.1. The deadline to file a notice of appeal is extended to ninety days after the judgment is signed if , within thirty days after the judgment is signed, a party timely files a motion for new trial , motion to modify the judgment, motion to reinsta te, or, under certain circumstances, a request for findings of fact and conclusions of law. See T EX . R. A PP . P. 26.1(a); see also T EX . R. C IV . P. 329 b
. The time to file a notice of appeal may also be extended if, within fifteen days after the deadline to file the notice of appeal, a party files a notice of appeal and a motion for extension of time to file a notice of appeal that complies with Texas Rule
o f Appellate Procedure 10.5(b)
. See T EX . R. A PP . P. 10.5(b), 26.3. Here, the trial court signed its final judgment on February 1, 2023 , making appellant’s notice of appeal due on March 3, 2023
. See T EX . R. A PP . P. 26.1.3

Although t he record reflect s that a ppellant filed a motion for new trial, it did not do
so until April 26, 2023. A motion for new trial is timely if it is filed within thirty days after the complained

- of judgment or order is signed. See T EX . R. C IV . P. 329 b (a). Thus, appellant’s m otion for new trial was due on March 3, 2023 , and its April 26, 2023 motion for new trial was untimely
. See id. An untimely motion for new trial cannot extend the deadline for appellant to file its notice of appeal. 1 See Hartley v. Esquire Deposition , No. 01

- 17

- 00508

- CV, 2018 WL 1720670, at *1 (Tex. App.

— Houston [1st Dist.] Apr. 10, 2018, no pet.) (mem. op.); Coffee v. Coffee , No. 03

- 16

- 00466

- CV , 2016 WL 4272122, at *1 (Tex. App.

— Austin Aug. 11, 2016, no pet.) (mem. op.); Aziz v. Waris , No. 01

- 15

- 00175

- CV, 2015 WL 5076295 , *1

– 2 (Tex. App.

— Houston [1st Dist.] Aug. 27, 2015, no pet.) (mem. op.) (dismissing appeal for lack of jurisdiction after concluding appellant ’ s motion for new trial was filed late and did not operate to extend notice

- of

- app eal deadline )
.

1 On February 3, 2023, appellant filed an “Appeal of the Master’s Report,” objecting to a master’s report filed in the trial court on January 20 , 2023. This document does not constitute a motion for new trial and did not extend the deadline for appellant to file its notice of appeal. See T EX . T AX C ODE A NN . § 33.74 (“Appeal of [Master’s] Recommendation of Final Judgment to the Referring Court or on Request of the Referring Court”); Finely v. J.C. Pace Ltd. , 4 S.W.3d 319, 320 (Tex. App.

— Houston [1st Dist.] 1999, order) (“A motion for new trial must, by its very nature, seek to set aside an existing judgment
. . . . ”) ; see also Hebisen v. Clear Cree k Indep. Sch. Dist. , 217 S.W.3d 527, 534 n.9 (Tex. App.

— Houston [14th Dist.] 2006, no pet.) (explaining operation of relevant Texas Tax Code provisions).4

Because appellant’s motion for new trial did not operate to extend its notice

- of

- appeal deadline, appellant’s notice of appeal, filed on May 1 , 2023, was not timely filed. See T EX . R. A PP . P. 26.1. On June 5, 2023, appellee, Propel Financial Services, as Agent and Attorney in Fact for FNA VI, LLC, filed a motion to dismiss appellant’s appeal for lack of jurisdiction, requesting that this Court dismiss appellant’s appeal because appellant’s notice o f appeal was untimely filed. Appellant did not respond to appellee’s motion. Accordingly, we grant appellee’s motion and dismiss appellant’s appeal for lack of jurisdiction. See T EX . R. A PP . P. 42.3(a) , 43.2(f) ; see, e.g. , Hartley , 2018 WL 1720670, at *1 ; Aziz , 2015 WL 5076295, at *1

– 2 . We dismiss a ll other pending motions as moot. PER CURIAM Panel consists of Justices Kelly, Hightower, and Countiss
.