Background
NGI NW Drive, LLC d/b/a Populus Westside filed a dispossessory action against tenant Jania Drumgoole in magistrate court. On July 29, 2026, the magistrate court ordered Drumgoole to pay rent into the court registry while possession remained unresolved.
Drumgoole sought discretionary review in the Court of Appeals of Georgia on August 7, nine days after entry of the rent-registry order.
The Court’s Holding
The Court of Appeals dismissed the application for lack of jurisdiction. Ordinarily, review of a magistrate-court judgment lies first in state or superior court, not directly in the Court of Appeals.
The court declined to transfer the matter because the challenged order was interlocutory: state and superior courts have appellate jurisdiction over final magistrate-court judgments, and the dispossessory case remained pending. The application was also untimely because a discretionary application in a dispossessory proceeding must be filed within seven days of the order appealed from.
Key Takeaways
- A rent-registry order entered while possession remains unresolved is interlocutory.
- Magistrate-court orders generally must be reviewed by state or superior court before reaching the Court of Appeals.
- The seven-day deadline for discretionary review in a dispossessory case is jurisdictional.
Why It Matters
The decision underscores that litigants in Georgia dispossessory matters must identify the correct appellate route and comply with the specialized seven-day filing deadline. An untimely challenge to a nonfinal magistrate-court order cannot be saved through transfer.