Opinion
A23A1280
05-08-2023
EDDIE DENHARDT v. RESIDENTIAL FUNDING COMPANY, LLC.
The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:
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 S.E.2d 708) (1997). See also Prison Health Svcs. v. Ga. Dept. of Administrative Svcs., 265 Ga. 810, 811 (1) (462 S.E.2d 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 S.E.2d 564) (2021) (punctuation omitted).
Because Denhardt failed to follow the required procedure, we lack jurisdiction to consider this appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED.