Angelo Moe v. Lake St. James Apartments

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: December 24, 2019
• Docket: A20D0187
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ December 19, 2019

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A20D0187. ANGELO MOE v. LAKE ST. JAMES APARTMENTS.

Lake St. James Apartments commenced dispossessory proceedings against Moe Angelo. On November 15, 2019, the magistrate court entered default judgment in favor of Lake St. James Apartments. Angelo filed this application for discretionary appeal seeking to challenge the magistrate court’s ruling. We lack jurisdiction. As a general rule, “[t]he only avenue of appeal available from [a] magistrate court judgment is provided by OCGA § 15-10-41 (b) (1), which allows for a de novo appeal to the state or superior court.” Handler v. Hulsey, 199 Ga. App. 751, 751 (406 SE2d 225) (1991). If a party is then aggrieved by the decision of the state or superior court, an application for discretionary appeal may be filed in this Court. See OCGA § 5-6-35 (a) (1), (11). However, this Court may only address magistrate court matters that already have been reviewed by the state or superior court. See Westwind Corp. v. Washington Fed. S & L Assn., 195 Ga. App. 411, 411 (1) (393 SE2d 479) (1990). For this reason, we lack jurisdiction to consider this application for discretionary appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 12/19/2019 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.