Justine Helen Slater v. Local Eviction LLC

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: September 28, 2023
• Docket: A24D0057
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ September 28, 2023

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A24D0057. JUSTINE HELEN SLATER v. LOCAL EVICTION LLC.

In this dispossessory action, the Gwinnett County Magistrate Court entered an order granting a writ of possession to the plaintiff and against Justine Helen Slater. Slater then filed this application seeking discretionary review of the order. We, however, lack jurisdiction. “[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.” Tate v. Habif, 367 Ga. App. 435, 438-439 (2) (886 SE2d 389) (2023) (punctuation omitted). This Court has jurisdiction to address an order of the magistrate court only if the order has been reviewed by a state or superior court. See Westwind Corp. v. Washington Fed. S & L Assn., 195 Ga. App. 411, 411 (1) (393 SE2d 479) (1990). The Georgia Constitution, however, provides that “[a]ny court shall transfer to the appropriate court in the state any civil case in which it determines that jurisdiction or venue lies elsewhere.” Ga. Const. of 1983, Art. VI, Sec. I, Par. VIII; accord Court of Appeals Rule 11 (b). Accordingly, this application is hereby TRANSFERRED to the Superior Court of Gwinnett County.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 09/28/2023 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.