Opinion
A23A0807
03-28-2023
MONIQUE RONNETT WILLIAMS v. EVANGGELIA LINDA PITSOULIS.
The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:
Evanggelia Pitsoulis filed a dispossessory action in magistrate court against Monique Williams. Williams filed a counterclaim for $20,000 in damages and other relief and moved to transfer the case to superior court. In June 2022, the magistrate court entered judgment granting the writ of possession, awarding Pitsoulis $4,675 in past due rent, and transferring Williams's counterclaim to superior court. In September 2022, Pitsoulis filed in superior court a motion for immediate writ of possession. Williams then filed a motion in superior court to set aside the June 2022 judgment as to the writ of possession. On October 27, 2022, the superior court entered an order denying the motion to set aside, granting a writ of possession to Pitsoulis, and stating that Williams's "transferred Counterclaims in this case shall remain open and will be addressed at a future hearing in this action." On October 31, 2022, Williams filed this direct appeal from "all [o]rders entered into this case." We lack jurisdiction.
As a general rule, a right of direct appeal only lies from a final judgment - that is, where the case is no longer pending below. See OCGA § 5-6-34 (a) (1). Here, none of the orders issued by the superior court resolved the action, which remains pending in that court. Accordingly, Williams was required to comply with the interlocutory appeal procedures of OCGA § 5-6-34 (b) - including obtaining a certificate of immediate review - in order to obtain appellate review. See Pace Constr. Corp. v. Northpark Assoc., 215 Ga.App. 438, 439-440 (450 S.E.2d 828) (1994). Her failure to do so deprives us of jurisdiction over this appeal. Accordingly, this appeal is hereby DISMISSED.