Eddie Denhardt v. Residential Funding Company, LLC

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia May 08, 2023 ATLANTA,____________________ The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A23A1280. EDDIE DENHARDT v. RESIDENTIAL FUNDING COMPANY, LLC. In 2017, non-party Principal Lien Services obtained a default judgment against Residential Funding Company, LLC (“RFC”) in a garnishment action, and later assigned its interest in the judgment to Eddie Denhardt. In July 2022, Denhardt filed a complaint in superior court, seeking a money judgment against RFC in the amount of the original garnishment. RFC failed to file an answer, and Denhardt moved for default judgment. Following a hearing, the trial court denied the motion and decided, sua sponte, that the complaint failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, and directed the clerk to close the case. Denhardt filed this direct appeal. We lack jurisdiction. Appeals in cases involving garnishment must be initiated by an application for discretionary appeal filed with this Court. OCGA § 5-6-35 (a) (4); Maloy v. Ewing, 226 Ga. App. 490, 491 ( 486 SE2d 708 ) (1997). See also Prison Health Svcs. v. Ga. Dept. of Administrative Svcs., 265 Ga. 810, 811 (1) ( 462 SE2d 601 ) (1995) (an order is subject to the discretionary appeal procedure “if the underlying subject matter of the appeal is one contained in OCGA § 5-6-35”). “Compliance with the discretionary appeals procedure is jurisdictional.” Hair Restoration Specialists v. State of Ga., 360 Ga. App. 901 , 903 ( 862 SE2d 564 ) (2021) (punctuation omitted). Because Denhardt failed to follow the required procedure, we lack jurisdiction to consider this appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED. Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia 05/08/2023 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.