A Citizen's Storage, Inc. v. Janice Fervier

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: October 28, 2024
• Docket: A25A0125
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ October 28, 2024

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A25A0125. A CITIZEN’S STORAGE, INC. v. JANICE FEVRIER.

Janice Fevrier brought a claim against A Citizen’s Storage, Inc. and Santosh Kothari (collectively, “Citizen’s Storage”) in magistrate court. Following a bench trial, the magistrate court entered judgment in favor of Fevrier for $8,782. Citizen’s Storage filed a petition for review in the superior court. The superior court dismissed the petition, and Citizen’s Storage appealed directly to this Court. We lack jurisdiction. Because the appeal to this Court is from a decision of a superior court reviewing de novo the decision of a magistrate court, Citizen’s Storage was required to follow the discretionary appeal procedure. See OCGA § 5-6-35 (a) (1); Bullock v. Sand, 260 Ga. App. 874, 875 (581 SE2d 333) (2003). “Compliance with the discretionary appeals procedure is jurisdictional.” Smoak v. Dept. of Human Resources, 221 Ga. App. 257, 257 (471 SE2d 60) (1996). Citizen’s Storage’s failure to file a discretionary application deprives us of jurisdiction over this appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED.1

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 10/28/2024 I certify that the above is a true extract from the minutes of the Court of Appeals of Georgia. Witness my signature and the seal of said court hereto affixed the day and year last above written.

, Clerk.

1 Because this is an appeal in an action for damages in which the judgment was less than $10,000, Citizen’s Storage also was required to file a discretionary application under OCGA § 5-6-35 (a) (6).