Reasonable Explanation for Untimely Filing of Affidavit

In Furr v. Furr, 721 S.W.2d 565, 566 (Tex.App.--Amarillo 1986, no writ), the Texas Courts of Appeals was faced with the question of whether a party had provided a "reasonable explanation" for their failure to timely file an affidavit in lieu of cost bond. The Texas Courts of Appeals wrote "an obvious failure to read the applicable, easily available rules setting out the requisite steps necessary to perfect an appeal shows a lack of proper diligence and falls short of establishing a reasonable explanation." 721 S.W.2d at 567. C.f. Roberts, 988 S.W.2d at 403. In West Columbia Nat'l Bank v. Griffith, 902 S.W.2d 201 (Tex.App.--Houston [1st Dist.] 1995, writ denied), the court denied relief by a bill of review proceeding where the party's intentional decision not to answer a suit was based on his misinterpretation of the law. Id. at 207. In contrast, showing that the failure to perform some act was due to accident or mistake often requires a party to show they were negligent. See: Ivy v. Carrell, 407 S.W.2d 212, 213 (Tex. 1996); Ferguson & Co. v. Roll, 776 S.W.2d 692, 697 (Tex.App.--Dallas 1989, no writ); Pohl and Hittner, JUDGMENT BY DEFAULT IN TEXAS, 37 SW. L.J. 421, 433.