Court Opinion

ID: 5633583
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2022-01-11 05:35:00.991671+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:37:54.309545
License: Public Domain

Jordan, Presiding Judge.
In the absence of any special statutory provisions governing default in eviction proceedings (see Code Ann. § 61-301 et seq.) the general practice (CPA § 55; Code Ann. § 81A-155) is controlling. See CPA § 181; Code Ann. § 81A-181. Thus the defendant in the present eviction proceeding was entitled as a matter of right to open the default, having filed within 15 days of the default a defense as provided by law, supported by a pauper’s affidavit in lieu of payment of costs, and the trial judge erred in overruling her motion to open the default and in thereafter granting a writ of possession as if she were in default, without conducting a trial of the issues in accordance with the procedures prescribed for civil actions in courts of record. See Code Ann. § 61-303.

Judgment reversed.

Deen and Clark, JJ., concur.