City of Atlanta, as Successor to Thomas I. Puett v. Popmenu, Inc.

Court of Appeals
of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________
May 04, 2026

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A26A1662. CITY OF ATLANTA, AS SUCCESSOR TO THOMAS I. PUETT
v. POPMENU, INC.

The City of Atlanta, as successor in interest to Thomas I. Puett d/b/a Mews
Development Company, initiated this garnishment action against Bryan Castano,
naming Castano’s former employer, Popmenu, Inc. as garnishee. The trial court
entered a default judgment against Popmenu, after which Popmenu moved to set aside
the judgment. After a hearing, the trial court determined that the City failed to
properly serve Popmenu, so the court granted Popmenu’s motion, vacated the default
judgment, and dismissed the case without prejudice. The City then filed this direct
appeal. Popmenu has filed a motion to dismiss the appeal, arguing that this Court lacks
jurisdiction. We agree.
Appeals in cases involving garnishment must be initiated by an application for
discretionary appeal, subject to exceptions not applicable here. See OCGA § 5-6-35
(a)(4), (b); Maloy v. Ewing, 226 Ga. App. 490, 491 (486 SE2d 708) (1997). See also
Prison Health Servs. v. Ga. Dep’t of Admin. Servs., 265 Ga. 810, 811 (1) (462 SE2d 601)
(1995) (an order is subject to the discretionary appeal procedure “if the underlying
subject matter of the appeal is one contained in OCGA § 5-6-35”). “Compliance with
the discretionary appeals procedure is jurisdictional.” Hair Restoration Specialists v.
State of Ga., 360 Ga. App. 901, 903 (862 SE2d 564) (2021) (citation and punctuation
omitted). Because the City failed to follow the required procedure, we lack jurisdiction
to consider this appeal. Accordingly, we hereby GRANT Popmenu’s motion to
dismiss and DISMISS this appeal.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia
Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________
05/04/2026
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.