Austin Holan v. v Eight Automotive

Court of Appeals
of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________
May 29, 2026

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A26D0524. AUSTIN HOLAN v. V EIGHT AUTOMOTIVE.

Austin Holan sued V Eight Automotive in Douglas County Magistrate Court
asserting a claim for damages based on V Eight’s alleged failure to disclose structural
and other defects in a used car it sold Holan. Following a bench trial, the magistrate
court entered judgment on April 13, 2026 in favor of V Eight, finding that Holan had
failed to prove his claims. On May 13, 2026, Holan filed the current application for
discretionary appeal in this Court. The following day, Holan filed a motion to transfer
this case to the appropriate state or superior court. For reasons that follow, we agree
with Holan that a transfer is appropriate.
As Holan now recognizes, “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,
438-439(2) (886 SE2d 389) (2023) (citation and 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. See, e.g., Harris v. Reserve at Hollywood LLC,
376 Ga. App. 553, 553 (920 SE2d 163) (2025). In the absence of any such review, we
lack jurisdiction to consider this application. Id. However, the Georgia Constitution
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, because the
filing of this discretionary application may be construed as a notice of appeal, we
hereby GRANT Holan’s motion, and this case is hereby TRANSFERRED to the
Magistrate Court of Douglas County with direction to transmit it to the state or
superior court for disposition as appropriate.1

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia
Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________
05/29/2026
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.

1
We recognize that we are in possession of limited material and that our
determination that jurisdiction may lie in another court is limited by the dearth of
information. Thus, our ruling should not constrain either the magistrate court or the
state or superior court to the extent those courts determine either that Holan has not
perfected the right to appeal or that jurisdiction lies elsewhere.