Khyber Holdings, LLC v. Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., as Nominee for Resmae Mortgage Corp., 01-23-00367-CV

Khyber Holdings, LLC filed a suit in 2009 to quiet title, asserting ownership of a Harris County, Texas property via a trustee’s deed and seeking to invalidate a deed of trust recorded by MERS.
MERS did not respond, resulting in a default judgment for Khyber in 2009.
In 2023, U.S. Bank, via a related bill of review action (2021 case), succeeded in setting aside the 2009 default judgment.
U.S. Bank then moved for, and was granted, summary judgment in the original 2009 case, dismissing Khyber’s claims with prejudice in April 2023.
Khyber appealed the dismissal, arguing the trial court erred by reopening the 2009 case and allowing summary judgment.
The appellate court considered if it had jurisdiction over an appeal from the April 2023 judgment.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court erred in reopening the 2009 case and granting summary judgment after setting aside the original judgment via a bill of review	Khyber: Trial court improperly granted summary judgment after reopening the case	MERS: Judgment was proper under bill-of-review procedure	Court: The trial court’s April 2023 judgment was void as it was entered after its plenary power in the 2009 case expired

Metzlaff v. Mendieta-Morales, 356 S.W.3d 676 (Tex. App.—El Paso 2011) (judgments after bill of review must be entered under the bill-of-review cause number)
Hartford Underwriters Ins. v. Mills, 110 S.W.3d 588 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 2003) (procedure for rendering judgments after bill of review)
Jordan v. Jordan, 907 S.W.2d 471 (Tex. 1995) (bill of review setting aside prior judgment but not disposing merits is interlocutory)
State ex rel. Latty v. Owens, 907 S.W.2d 484 (Tex. 1995) (judicial actions after court’s jurisdiction expires are void)
Freedom Commc’ns, Inc. v. Coronado, 372 S.W.3d 621 (Tex. 2012) (appellate courts lack jurisdiction over appeals from void judgments)