Full Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia ATLANTA,____________________ July 22, 2026 The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A26D0606. MICHELLE JOHNSON v. FENG YAN. Feng Yan commenced a dispossessory proceeding against Michelle Johnson and Brandon Brown in magistrate court. Johnson failed to appear, and the trial court issued a writ of possession and entered default judgment against her in the amount of $19,036.50. Johnson then filed this application for discretionary appeal. We, however, lack jurisdiction. Ordinarily, “the 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, 438–39(2) (886 SE2d 389) (2023) (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.” Harris v. Reserve at Hollywood LLC, 376 Ga. App. 553, 553 (920 SE2d 163) (2025). The Georgia Constitution, however, 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; accord Court of Appeals Rule 11(b). Thus, if it appears an applicant may have a right of appeal, this Court has construed discretionary applications as a petition for review and transferred the application back to the magistrate court with direction to send the case to state or superior court. Here, however, Johnson seeks to appeal a default judgment against her, and under OCGA § 15-10-41(b)(2), “[n]o appeal shall lie from a default judgment or from a dismissal for want of prosecution after a nonappearance of a plaintiff for trial.” Under these circumstances, Johnson has no right of appeal from the default judgment, and this application is hereby DISMISSED. See Mooney v. Zheng, 375 Ga. App. 566, 566 (916 SE2d 771) (2025). Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 07/22/2026 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.