The Bank of North Georgia the “Bank” sued borrowers Capital City Developers, LLC; Anderson Avenue Partners, LLC; Giles Properties, LP; and Benjamin Michael Giles, along with guarantors Benjamin J. Giles, Jr.; Harold T. Pounders; and Keith D. Kantor collectively, “Appellants” to collect money owed, alleging that Appellants had defaulted on 24 promissory notes and related guaranties. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the Bank and entered a final judgment against all Appellants in the total amount of $3,288,969.08 in principal, interest, and attorney fees. On appeal, Appellants asserted that the trial court erred because: 1 their affirmative defense of estoppel precludes a grant of summary judgment in the Bank’s favor; and the Bank failed to establish the amounts owed through proper tendering of evidence into the record. We affirm as to the first issue; as to the second issue, we affirm the judgment as to liability, but reverse the amount of damages and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
A grant of summary judgment is appropriate when there is no genuine issue of material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.1 “On summary judgment, after the movant makes a prima facie showing of its entitlement to judgment as a matter of law, the burden then shifts to the respondent to come forward with rebuttal evidence. To do so, the respondent must set forth specific facts showing the existence of a genuine issue of disputed fact.”2 On appeal from the grant or denial of a motion for summary judgment, we apply a de novo standard of review, viewing the evidence and all reasonable inferences and conclusions drawn from it in the light most favorable to Appellants as the non-moving parties.3
