Marva Monroe v. Citizens Trust Bank C/O McBryan, LLC

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ December 23, 2019

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A20D0213. MARVA MONROE v. CITIZENS TRUST BANK C/O MCBRYAN, LLC.

Citizens Trust Bank filed suit against Marva Monroe in magistrate court. The magistrate court entered default judgment in favor of the bank, and Monroe filed this application for discretionary appeal.1 We lack jurisdiction because this matter has not been reviewed by the state or superior court.

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); see OCGA § 15-10-41 (b). If a party is aggrieved by the ruling of the state or superior court, that party may then seek discretionary review 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).

1 Monroe filed her discretionary application in the Supreme Court, which transferred the matter to this Court.

Accordingly, we lack jurisdiction to consider Monroe’s application for discretionary appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 12/23/2019 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.