JP Morgan Chase wins final round in Georgia foreclosure appeal

A Georgia homeowner’s drawn-out legal fight over a foreclosure has come to a final halt, with the state’s Court of Appeals ruling on May 28, 2025, that it lacks jurisdiction to hear her latest appeal.

The case involves Antoinette Marques, who had been trying to undo the foreclosure of her property by JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. After years of litigation and multiple court filings, her efforts have officially been rejected.

Back in March 2024, the trial court issued a final judgment in favor of JP Morgan Chase after a bench trial on her wrongful foreclosure claim. Marques sought to reverse that ruling through a motion to set it aside, but the court denied her request.

She then pursued a direct appeal. On March 5, 2025, the Georgia Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s judgment in Case No. A24A1538 through an unpublished opinion, issued under Court of Appeals Rule 36.

Following that ruling, Marques filed yet another motion to set aside the judgment, which was again dismissed by the trial court. She responded by applying for a discretionary appeal—asking the appellate court to re-examine the case. But on May 28, 2025, the Court of Appeals dismissed the application.

In doing so, the court cited the "law of the case" doctrine, explaining that it had already resolved the key legal issues in her earlier appeal and could not reconsider them. The principle bars parties from repeatedly appealing the same judgment in the same case once a decision has been made.

The dismissal does not introduce new legal findings or revisit the foreclosure itself—it simply affirms that the prior appellate decision stands.

For mortgage professionals, this outcome reinforces the finality of judicial foreclosure rulings, especially when they’ve already been reviewed on appeal. The case also highlights the uphill battle borrowers face when seeking to overturn court decisions involving major financial institutions.