In an attempt to settle protracted litigation arising from the sale of real property, the plaintiffs, Santosh and Sarala Kothari, and the defendants, Tassew Tessfaye and Oladayo Osinuga, entered into a settlement agreement, which became a consent judgment following the trial court’s approval on April 28, 2008. In November 2010, the defendants filed a motion for contempt and a motion to set aside the consent judgment, asserting that it was unenforceable because it lacked mutuality and was impossible to perform. The trial court denied the contempt motion, but granted the motion to set aside. The plaintiffs appeal,1 contending that the trial court erred in setting aside the consent judgment instead of entering judgment in their favor instanter pursuant to the undisputed, express, and unambiguous terms of the original judgment. In addition, they contend that the court erred in issuing prior rulings that altered material terms of the consent judgment and that the consent judgment should now be enforced pursuant to its original terms. For the following reasons, we reverse the court’s grant of the motion to set aside the consent judgment and reverse the court’s prior orders to the extent that they materially altered the original deadlines in the consent judgment. We also remand this case to the trial court with direction to enter judgment instanter in favor of the plaintiffs pursuant to the original terms of the consent judgment.
The record shows the following undisputed, relevant facts. In 2003 and 2004, the defendants purchased real property in DeKalb County from the plaintiffs and executed two promissory notes totaling $300,500 and a deed to secure debt. The deed to secure debt provided that the defendants would construct an access road that would connect nearby Panola Road to their property and to adjoining property owned by the plaintiffs hereinafter, “the road”. The road was to be built and dedicated to DeKalb County as a public road by November 2004. In 2005, the plaintiffs filed a verified complaint for injunctive relief, claiming that the defendants had failed to build the road in compliance with the agreement and deed and asking the court to order the defendants to do so. Over the next three years, the litigation expanded to include a variety of claims, counterclaims and motions between the parties. The parties ultimately settled all of their claims, however, and the trial court approved the settlement agreement in April 2008 and made it an order of the court hereinafter, “the consent judgment”. The consent judgment states, in relevant part, as follows:
