Opinion
A23A0278
09-26-2022
FREDERICK C. LOW et al. v. CAROL C. SWIFT et al.
The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:
Frederick C. Low and Darlene Low filed a complaint for failure to disclose material defects in a real estate transaction and fraud. Defendants Carol Swift, Virginia Jacobs, and Kings Bay ERA Realty, Inc. moved for summary judgment. On June 25, 2021, the trial court granted summary judgment to the defendants. Plaintiffs filed a notice of appeal from the trial court's order, and we remanded the case to the trial court to clarify whether it considered Carol Swift's deposition in its summary judgment ruling. See Case No. A22A0151 (June 3, 2022). On July 18, 2022, the trial court entered an order clarifying that it did not consider the deposition and that the appellate record was complete. Plaintiffs filed a notice of appeal therefrom on August 22, 2022. We lack jurisdiction because plaintiffs' notice of appeal is untimely.
A notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days after the entry of the trial court's order. OCGA § 5-6-38 (a). "The proper and timely filing of the notice of appeal is an absolute requirement to confer jurisdiction upon the appellate court." Rowland v. State, 264 Ga. 872, 872 (1) (452 S.E.2d 756) (1995) (emphasis in original). In this Court's order in Case No. A22A0151, we informed plaintiffs of the requirement to refile their notice of appeal within 30 days of the trial court's order certifying the record as complete. However, plaintiffs filed their notice of appeal 35 days after the trial court's order was entered. Accordingly, we lack jurisdiction to consider this appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED.
Case Nos. A23A0077 and A23A0096 are related cases that are currently pending in this Court. In Case No. A23A0077, plaintiffs appeal from the trial court's grant of the defendants' motion to enforce the settlement agreement entered into by the parties. In Case No. A23A0096, plaintiffs appeal the trial court's award of OCGA § 9-15-14 attorney fees to the defendants.