Shirley Weiss v. Ally Financial, Inc. F/K/A Gmac, Inc.

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,__________________ August 22, 2013

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A13A2344. SHIRLEY WEISS v. ALLY FINANCIAL, INC.

On May 8, 2013, the trial court entered an order dismissing a complaint filed by Shirley Weiss. On June 21, 2013, Weiss filed a notice of appeal. OCGA § 5-6-38 (a) requires that a notice of appeal be filed within 30 days of the order sought to be appealed. Weiss, however, filed her notice of appeal 44 days after entry of the trial court’s order. “[A] timely-filed notice of appeal is a jurisdictional prerequisite to a valid appeal.” Henderson v. State, 265 Ga. 317 (1) (454 SE2d 458) (1995). Because Weiss’s notice of appeal is untimely, we lack jurisdiction to consider this appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED. We note that, in her notice of appeal, Weiss contends that she did not timely receive a copy of the order from the trial court. If so, her remedy is to petition the trial court to vacate and re-enter the order as a means of correcting the problem. See id.; Cambron v. Canal Ins. Co., 246 Ga. 147, 148-149 (1) (269 SE2d 426) (1980). The re-entry of the order would begin anew the time for filing a notice of appeal. See Cambron, supra.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia 08/22/2013 Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,__________________ 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.