Citizens Bank and Trust of West Georgia “CB&T” brought this lawsuit to recover on promissory notes securing loans to Hot-Lanta Developers Group, LLC “Hot-Lanta” and on guaranties of those loans by the individual members of Hot-Lanta. The guarantors appeal from an order of the trial court denying their motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. The guarantors assert that the trial court erred in finding that each of them had transacted business in the State within the meaning of Georgia’s Long Arm Statute OCGA § 9-10-90, et seq.. We affirm. When a defendant moves to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction, he has the burden of proving that he is not subject to the jurisdiction of the court. Catholic Stewardship Consultants v. Ruotolo Associates , 270 Ga. App. 751, 752 608 SE2d 1 2004. Where the motion is decided without an evidentiary hearing and based solely upon the written submissions of the parties, as it was here, any disputes of fact must be resolved in the light most favorable to the party asserting the existence of personal jurisdiction, and we review the decision of the trial court de novo. Home Depot Supply v. Hunter Management LLC, 289 Ga. App. 286, 286 656 SE2d 898 2008. See also Southern Electronics Distributors v. Anderson , 232 Ga. App. 648, 648 1 502 SE2d 257 1998.
Viewed in the light most favorable to CB&T, the record shows that all the guarantor-appellants are residents of, or companies based in, Alabama or Florida.1 Around 2004, each of the appellants was approached by Scott Miller, an insurance agent and financial planner in Dothan, Alabama, about a potential real estate investment in Georgia. All but two of the appellants attended a meeting at Miller’s Dothan office, where they saw a presentation by representatives of The Profile Group, an entity the appellants generally understood to be a Georgia-based real estate developer.2 At this meeting, The Profile Group representatives said that they were looking for passive investors in the development of residential property located in Georgia. They explained that the investors would just need to provide money and that The Profile Group would manage the development project, doing “all of the work” and “taking care of” the details.
