STRONG Et Al. v. JWM HOLDINGS, LLC; And Vice Versa, 341 Ga. App. 309

Property in Fulton County was owned by Charlene (later Frazier) and then occupied by her husband Oscar until his death in 1998; neither estate probated a will or conveyed the property after their deaths.
Taxes went unpaid and the property was sold at a 2013 tax sale; purchaser later conveyed to JWM Holdings, LLC in March 2014.
In March–May 2014 Strong was appointed administrator (Oscar) and temporary administrator (Charlene) and sought to redeem the property; she asked JWM’s counsel for the redemption price.
JWM’s counsel provided the redemption amount but stated he would reject any tender from Strong or anyone without a legal right to redeem; Strong never made an actual tender and conceded the estates lacked funds and probate approval to redeem.
Strong sued to quiet title and to enjoin JWM from blocking redemption; JWM moved for summary judgment and counterclaimed for declaratory relief that Strong is forever barred from redeeming due to failure to tender.
Trial court granted summary judgment to JWM on Strong’s claims for failure to tender but denied JWM’s declaratory counterclaim as premature; appeals followed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Strong satisfied the pre-suit tender requirement to redeem after tax sale	Strong: JWM’s pre-suit statements that it would refuse any tender waived the need for an actual pre-suit tender	JWM: Tender must be made before suit to the party entitled to payment; no tender was made	Held: No. Actual, present bona fide offer to pay was required and none was made; summary judgment for JWM affirmed
Whether JWM was entitled to declaratory judgment barring any future redemption by Strong	Strong: (implicit) future redemption issues are not ripe/advisory	JWM: Failure to tender in this suit forecloses any future redemption; declaratory relief appropriate	Held: Declaratory claim was premature and non-justiciable; trial court lacked jurisdiction to adjudicate future-rights claim — judgment vacated and remanded for dismissal without prejudice

Mark Turner Properties v. Evans, 274 Ga. 547 (clarifying tender requirement for redemption)
Machen v. Wolande Management Group, 271 Ga. 163 (tender must be an actual, present bona fide offer before suit)
Forrester v. Lowe, 192 Ga. 469 (tender ineffective if not made before action filed)
Durham v. Crawford, 196 Ga. 381 (tender during pendency of suit is ineffective)
Community Renewal & Redemption v. Nix, 288 Ga. 439 (discussing redemption statutory scheme)
B-X Corp. v. Jeter, 210 Ga. 250 (tender may be waived by declaration or conduct of the party entitled to payment)
Jolly v. Jones, 201 Ga. 532 (definition of tender requires actual present offer to pay)
Baker v. City of Marietta, 271 Ga. 210 (purpose and scope of Declaratory Judgment Act)
Fulton County v. City of Atlanta, 299 Ga. 676 (courts limited to justiciable controversies; no advisory opinions)
Chambers of Ga. v. Dept. of Natural Resources, 232 Ga. App. 632 (decl. relief inappropriate for hypothetical future disputes)
Pinnacle Benning LLC v. Clark Realty Capital, LLC, 314 Ga. App. 609 (dismissal without prejudice when declaratory claim non-justiciable)
Citizens & Southern Nat. Bank v. Rayle, 246 Ga. 727 (appellate review principles regarding interlocutory appeals)