Lawanda Davie v. Danforth LLC

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: August 19, 2024
• Docket: A25D0007
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ August 19, 2024

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A25D0007. LAWANDA DAVIE v. DANFORTH LLC.

In this dispossessory action, the Fulton County Magistrate Court entered judgment against LaWanda Davie. Davie then filed this application for discretionary review. We, however, lack jurisdiction. Pretermitting whether Davie’s application is timely, “the 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) (citation and punctuation omitted). Thus, this Court may address magistrate court matters only if they 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). The Georgia Constitution 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. See also Bosma v. Gunter, 258 Ga. 664, 665 (373 SE2d 368) (1988). Accordingly, this application is hereby TRANSFERRED to the State Court of Fulton County for disposition.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 08/19/2024 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.