Erick Willis v. 1136 W. Commons LLC D/B/A Sedgefield Apartments

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ May 20, 2025

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A25D0398. ERICK WILLIS v. 1136 W. COMMONS LLC d/b/a SEDGEFIELD APARTMENTS.

Erick Willis filed in this Court the instant application for discretionary review of an adverse judgment issued by the Cobb County Magistrate Court. 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) (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).

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 that it lacks jurisdiction or that venue lies elsewhere.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 05/20/2025 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.