Shartia Winters v. Vm Pronto D/B/A Vm Pronto LLC

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: February 23, 2023
• Docket: A23D0240
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ February 23, 2023

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A23D0240. SHARTIA WINTERS v. VM PRONTO d/b/a VM PRONTO, LLC.

VM Pronto filed a dispossessory action in Newton County Magistrate Court, and the court entered a default judgment against Shartia Winters. Now Winters, proceeding pro se, has filed this application for a discretionary appeal seeking to appeal the magistrate court’s judgment. This Court, however, lacks jurisdiction for two reasons. First, the only avenue of appeal for a default judgment from a magistrate court is provided by OCGA § 15-10-41 (b) (2), which states that review of these matters shall be by certiorari to the state or superior court of that county. See Abushmais v. Erby, 282 Ga. 619, 620-621 (1) (652 SE2d 549) (2007); Jorree v. PMB Rentals, LLC, 349 Ga. App. 332, 336 (1) (825 SE2d 817) (2019). Accordingly, this Court may address magistrate court matters only if they have already been reviewed by the state or superior court. See Baker v. G. T., Ltd., 194 Ga. App. 450, 451 (3) (391 SE2d 1) (1990). There is no evidence in the application materials that Winters applied for certiorari with the state or superior court. Absent an appealable state or superior order, we are unable to consider this application. Second, Winters’ application is also untimely. An application for discretionary review generally may be filed within 30 days of entry of the order sought to be appealed. See OCGA § 5-6-35 (d). Under OCGA § 44-7-56, however, appeals in dispossessory actions must be filed within seven days of the date the judgment was entered. See Ray M. Wright, Inc. v. Jones, 239 Ga. App. 521, 522-523 (521 SE2d 456) (1999). Here, the magistrate court’s order was entered on January 23, 2023, and Winters filed this application on February 8, 2023, 16 days later. For these reasons, this application is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 02/23/2023 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.