N'ZI Luxury Auto Sales, LLC v. Ndukwe

N'ZI LUXURY AUTO SALES, LLC v. NNEOMA S. IDIKA NDUKWE.

NNEOMA S. IDIKA NDUKWE v. N'ZI LUXURY AUTO SALES, LLC.

Nos. A22A0033, A22A0034

Court of Appeals of Georgia

August 6, 2021

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

Nneoma S. Idika Ndukwe filed an action for fraud and other claims against N'ZI Luxury Auto Sales, LLC ("N'ZI"). The trial court entered default judgment in favor of Ndukwe in the amount of $9, 786.23. In Case No. A22A0033, N'ZI filed a direct appeal from that order. In Case No. A22A0034, Ndukwe filed a cross-appeal from the same order. Ndukwe has moved to dismiss N'ZI's appeal. We lack jurisdiction in both cases.

Appeals in all actions for damages in which the judgment is $10 000.00 or less must be pursued by discretionary application. See OCGA § 5-6-35 (a) (6); Jennings v. Moss 235 Ga.App. 357, 357 (509 S.E.2d 655) (1998). "[C]ompliance with the discretionary appeals procedure is jurisdictional." Fabe v. Floyd, 199 Ga.App 322, 332 (1) (405 S.E.2d 265) (1991). N'ZI's failure to follow the discretionary appeal procedure deprives us of jurisdiction over Case No. A22A0033.

Although no party has moved to dismiss the appeal in Case No A22A0034, it is incumbent upon an appellate court to inquire into its own jurisdiction. See State v. Rowe, 308 Ga. 806, 808 (2) (a) (843 S.E.2d 537) (2020); MSM Poly LLC v. Textile Rubber &Chem. Co., 353 Ga.App. 538, 539 (1) (839 S.E.2d 4) (2020). Because this Court must have jurisdiction over a valid appeal in order to have jurisdiction over a cross-appeal, we necessarily must dismiss Ndukwe's cross-appeal. See Jarrard v. Copeland, 205 Ga.App. 20, 21 (421 S.E.2d 84) (1992).

For the...