Ashton Harris v. International Auto Liquidators, LLC

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: November 20, 2025
• Docket: A26A0649
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ November 20, 2025

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A26A0649. ASHTON HARRIS v. INTERNATIONAL AUTO LIQUIDATORS, LLC.

In this action for negligence, the trial court entered a final order and default judgment awarding $665.16 to plaintiff Ashton Harris on June 12, 2025. Harris subsequently filed a motion to amend the judgment in which he asked the trial court to impose more than $92,000 in damages. The trial court construed Harris’s request as a motion for reconsideration, which the court denied on July 24, 2025. Harris filed a notice of appeal on August 21, 2025. We lack jurisdiction for two reasons. First, a notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days of entry of the judgment or trial court order sought to be appealed. OCGA § 5-6-38(a). The proper and timely filing of a notice of appeal is an absolute requirement to confer appellate jurisdiction on this Court. Perlman v. Perlman, 318 Ga. App. 731, 739 (4) (734 SE2d 560) (2012). While a final judgment is subject to direct appeal under OCGA § 5-6-34(a)(1), a motion for reconsideration does not extend the time to file an appellate challenge to an appealable order, and the denial of a motion for reconsideration is not appealable in its own right. See Bell v. Cohran, 244 Ga. App. 510, 510–11 (536 SE2d 187) (2000); Savage v. Newsome, 173 Ga. App. 271, 271 (326 SE2d 5) (1985). Consequently, the trial court’s July 24 order is not appealable, and Harris’s August 21 appeal — filed 70 days after the court’s June 12 order — is untimely as to that order. See OCGA § 5-6-38(a); Bell, 244 Ga. App. at 510–11; Savage, 173 Ga. App. at 271. Second, appeals in actions for damages in which the judgment is $10,000 or less must be initiated by filing an application for discretionary review. OCGA § 5-6-35(a)(6), (b); Jennings v. Moss, 235 Ga. App. 357, 357 (509 SE2d 655) (1998). “Compliance with the discretionary appeals procedure is jurisdictional.” Smoak v. Dep’t of Human Res., 221 Ga. App. 257, 257 (471 SE2d 60) (1996). Harris’s failure to follow the proper procedure in this appeal involving a $665.16 final judgment independently deprives us of jurisdiction over this direct appeal. See Jennings, 235 Ga. App. at 357. For the above reasons, this appeal is hereby DISMISSED for lack of jurisdiction.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 11/20/2025 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.