Torren Lee v. Three C's LLC

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: February 21, 2025
• Docket: A25D0249
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ February 21, 2025

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A25D0249. TORREN LEE v. THREE C’S LLC.

In this dispossessory action, the Magistrate Court of Newton County entered judgment in favor of plaintiff Three C’s LLC and against defendants Torren and Sharee Lee. Torren Lee then filed this application for discretionary review of the magistrate court’s order. We 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). Thus, this Court has jurisdiction to address a magistrate court order only if the order has been reviewed by a state or superior court. See, e.g., Westwind Corp. v. Washington Fed. S & L Assn., 195 Ga. App. 411, 411 (1) (393 SE2d 479) (1990); Baker v. G. T., Ltd., 194 Ga. App. 450, 451 (3) (391 SE2d 1) (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; accord Court of Appeals Rule 11 (b). Accordingly, this application is hereby TRANSFERRED to Newton County Superior Court.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 02/21/2025 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.