Angela Bryan v. Fortis Property Management LLC the Eddy at Riiverview Landing

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ April 01, 2025

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A25D0289. ANGELA BRYAN v. FORTIS PROPERTY MANAGEMENT LLC THE EDDY AT RIVERVIEW LANDING.

In this dispossessory action, Angela Bryan seeks discretionary review of a magistrate court order denying an unspecified motion. This Court, however, lacks jurisdiction.1 “[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) (citation and 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 Westwind Corp. v. Washington Fed. Sav. & Loan Assn., 195 Ga. App. 411, 411 (1) (393 SE2d 479) (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; Bosma v. Gunter, 258 Ga. 664, 665 (373 SE2d 368) (1988); accord Court of Appeals Rule 11 (b).

1 This is the second appearance of this matter in this Court. In the first, Bryan filed an application for discretionary appeal seeking review of the Cobb County Magistrate Court’s issuance of a writ of possession to plaintiff. On October 23, 2024, we determined that we lacked jurisdiction and transferred the matter to the Cobb County Superior Court. See Bryan v. The Eddy at Riverview, Case No. A25D0079 (Oct. 23, 2024).

Accordingly, this application is hereby TRANSFERRED to the Cobb County Magistrate Court with direction to send it to the Cobb County Superior Court. The Cobb County Superior Court is under the same obligations as this Court, in the event that it determines it lacks jurisdiction or that venue lies elsewhere.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 04/01/2025 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.