Zachary James McAlexander v. Jp Morgan Chase Bank

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: July 18, 2023
• Docket: A23D0376
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ July 18, 2023

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A23D0375. ZACHARY JAMES McALEXANDER v. BANK OF AMERICA CORPORATION. A23D0376. ZACHARY JAMES McALEXANDER v. JP MORGAN CHASE BANK.

In these companion cases, the Gwinnett County Magistrate Court entered judgments against applicant Zachary McAlexander. McAlexander sought to appeal the judgments and the magistrate court dismissed his notices of appeal as untimely. McAlexander then filed these discretionary applications with our Supreme Court seeking review of the magistrate court’s orders. The Supreme Court concluded that the applications did not raise constitutional challenges which would invoke its jurisdiction, and transferred the applications to this Court. See Case Nos. S23D0963 and S23D0964 (transferred June 15, 2023).

“The only avenue of appeal available from the 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). This Court thus 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). And 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; Bosma v. Gunter, 258 Ga. 664, 665 (373 SE2d 368) (1988); accord Court of Appeals Rule 11 (b). Accordingly, these applications are hereby TRANSFERRED to the Superior Court of Gwinnett County.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 07/18/2023 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.