Ali S. Muhammad v. Pnc Bank National Association

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: July 31, 2014
• Docket: A14D0426
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,__________________ July 16, 2014

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A14D0426. ALI S. MUHAMMAD v. PNC BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, et al.

Ali S. Muhammad sued PNC Bank National Association and Hays Financial Consulting, LLC for damages and wrongful foreclosure. Following the trial court’s grant of the defendants’ motion to dismiss, Muhammad appealed to this Court, and the case was docketed as Case Number A14A1279. Back in the trial court, Hays Financial Consulting moved for an award of attorney fees under OCGA § 9-15-14. The court granted the motion and awarded attorney fees, and Muhammad filed this application for discretionary appeal. “[A] party aggrieved by a post-judgment OCGA § 9-15-14 award is required to comply with the discretionary appeal procedure of OCGA § 5-6-35 (a) (10) only in those instances where no direct appeal has been otherwise taken from the underlying judgment. However, in those instances where . . . a direct appeal has been taken from the underlying judgment, a party may also appeal directly from the OCGA § 9-15-14 post-judgment award without regard to the discretionary appeal procedures.” (Emphasis in original). Rolleston v. Huie, 198 Ga. App. 49, 52 (4) (400 SE2d 349) (1990); see also Mitcham v. Blalock, 268 Ga. 644, 647 (4) (491 SE2d 782) (1997). Thus, Muhammad was entitled to a direct appeal from the attorney fee award. This Court will grant an otherwise timely discretionary application pursuant to OCGA § 5-6-35 (j) if the order is subject to direct appeal and the applicant has not timely filed a notice of appeal. Accordingly, this application is hereby GRANTED. Muhammad shall have ten days from the date of this order to file a notice of appeal with the trial court. If, however, he has already filed a notice of appeal, he need not file a second notice. The clerk of the trial court is DIRECTED to include a copy of this order in the record transmitted to the Court of Appeals. Finally, Muhammad has filed a Motion for Permission to File Under Seal, seeking permission to file his application under seal. That motion is DENIED. Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia 07/16/2014 Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,__________________ 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.