Georgia Landlord-Tenant Laws (2026): Deposits, Notice, and Tenant Rights

Georgia caps security deposits at two months' rent under the Safe at Home Act (HB 404), which by its own terms applies to residential lease agreements entered into or renewed on or after July 1, 2024. A separate 2018 law requires the deposit to be returned within 30 days after the landlord obtains possession of the premises. Georgia has no statutory notice requirement for landlord entry; the lease governs. Month-to-month tenancies require 60 days' notice from the landlord and 30 days' notice from the tenant to terminate.

Security deposits in Georgia

Before July 1, 2024, Georgia had no statutory cap on security deposits. The Safe at Home Act (HB 404) changed that. O.C.G.A. 44-7-30.1 reads in full: "No landlord shall demand or receive a security deposit in an amount that exceeds the equivalent of two months' rent."

That is the entire Code section. It states the prohibition and nothing more: the Act set no penalty, no refund mechanism, and no remedy for a landlord who collects more than the cap. Section 6 of the Act also limits its reach to "residential lease agreements that are entered into or renewed on or after July 1, 2024," so a tenant still on an unrenewed pre-July-2024 lease is not covered by the cap.

O.C.G.A. 44-7-34(a) requires the landlord to return the full deposit "within 30 days after obtaining possession of the premises as provided in subsection (b) of Code Section 44-7-33." The clock runs from the landlord getting the property back, not from the end of the lease term. A 2018 amendment (HB 834) struck the older "within one month after the termination of the residential lease or the surrender and acceptance of the premises, whichever occurs last" language and replaced it with the possession trigger. If the landlord retains any part of the deposit, the written statement identifying the exact reasons for the retention, plus payment of the difference, must go out within that same window.

Missing the deadline carries real consequences. Under O.C.G.A. 44-7-35(b), failing to provide the required lists and written statements on time forfeits the landlord's right to withhold any portion of the deposit or to bring an action against the tenant for damage to the premises. Under O.C.G.A. 44-7-35(c), a landlord who fails to return a deposit that should have been returned is liable for three times the sum improperly withheld plus reasonable attorney's fees. The landlord is liable only for the sum actually withheld if they show by a preponderance of the evidence that the withholding was unintentional and resulted from a bona fide error despite procedures designed to avoid such errors.

Those rules do not reach every Georgia landlord. O.C.G.A. 44-7-36 exempts rental units owned by a natural person who, together with a spouse and minor children, owns ten or fewer rental units, unless a third party handles management including rent collection for a fee. For an exempt landlord, the escrow requirement (44-7-31), the surety-bond alternative (44-7-32), the damage lists (44-7-33) and the 44-7-35 remedies, treble damages included, do not apply. The 30-day return duty in 44-7-34 is not on that exemption list.

Permissible deductions include unpaid rent, damage beyond normal wear and tear, and costs specifically authorized by the lease. Ordinary wear and tear (minor scuffs on walls, light carpet traffic paths) may not be deducted. Georgia courts have consistently held that the landlord bears the burden of proving the damages were beyond normal use.

The Safe at Home Act also rewrote Georgia's demand-for-possession statute, and the new notice it created is about money, not about lease violations generally. New O.C.G.A. 44-7-50(c) applies when "a tenant fails to pay the rent, late fees, utilities, or other charges owed to the landlord when it becomes due": before filing a dispossessory affidavit, the landlord must first give the tenant a notice to vacate or pay all past-due amounts within three business days. It is a pay-or-vacate notice for money owed, counted in business days, and the Act created no cure period for any other kind of lease violation.

When can a landlord enter? Notice rules

Georgia does not have a statute specifying a minimum advance-notice period before a landlord may enter a rental unit. Unlike Florida (12 hours) or most URLTA states (24-48 hours), Georgia law is silent on the hours or days of permitted entry.

What governs instead is the lease itself, plus the general legal principle that a landlord must not interfere with the tenant's quiet enjoyment of the premises. If the lease requires 24 hours' notice, that term is enforceable. If the lease is silent, courts apply a "reasonable notice" standard based on the circumstances.

In practical terms, this means Georgia tenants and landlords benefit from spelling out entry rules clearly in the lease: how much advance notice, which hours are acceptable, and what purposes (repairs, inspections, showings) are permitted. Without a written agreement, disputes about entry are harder to resolve.

Emergency entry is recognized in Georgia, as in every state. A landlord may enter without notice to address an imminent threat to the property or the safety of occupants, such as a burst pipe, gas leak, or fire.

Ending a lease: notice to vacate

Georgia distinguishes between notice given by the landlord and notice given by the tenant. To end a month-to-month tenancy, the landlord must give 60 days' written notice. The tenant needs to provide only 30 days' written notice to vacate.

This asymmetry (O.C.G.A. 44-7-7) gives tenants more flexibility to leave on shorter notice than landlords have to ask them to leave. Fixed-term leases (annual or otherwise) end on the stated date without the need for any additional termination notice, unless the lease includes a holdover or auto-renewal clause.

If the reason for termination is nonpayment of rent or a lease violation, different notice rules apply. For unpaid rent, late fees, utilities or other charges, O.C.G.A. 44-7-50(c) requires a notice to vacate or pay the past-due amount within three business days before the landlord may file a dispossessory affidavit. See the Georgia eviction notice page for step-by-step rules on nonpayment and cause-based evictions.

Repairs and the warranty of habitability

The Safe at Home Act (HB 404) gave Georgia an express statutory warranty of habitability for the first time (O.C.G.A. 44-7-13(b)), for residential lease agreements entered into or renewed on or after July 1, 2024. Before that, Georgia tenants had to rely on the common-law implied warranty, which was inconsistently applied. The statute now codifies the landlord's duty to maintain the premises in a fit and habitable condition throughout the tenancy.

Covered duties include keeping the structure, plumbing, heating, and electrical systems in good working order and complying with applicable housing and building codes. A unit that lacks safe heat in winter or has severe water intrusion, for example, would breach the warranty.

However, Georgia does not provide a statutory repair-and-deduct remedy. Tenants cannot unilaterally hire a contractor, make repairs, and subtract the cost from rent. The available remedies instead are: give the landlord written notice of the defect and a reasonable time to repair, then if repairs are not made, pursue claims in court (including Magistrate Court for lower-dollar disputes), or in serious cases, terminate the lease for constructive eviction.

Georgia also has no tenant-initiated rent-escrow procedure. Rent is paid into the registry of the court only under O.C.G.A. 44-7-54, and only after the landlord has already filed a dispossessory and the right of possession cannot be decided within two weeks of service. At that point the tenant must pay, and failing to pay lets the court issue a writ of possession. Withholding rent on your own initiative is a practical risk in Georgia: under O.C.G.A. 44-7-50(c) the landlord needs only a three-business-day notice to vacate or pay before filing a dispossessory affidavit for unpaid rent.

Documenting all repair requests in writing (email or certified mail) before taking any legal action is essential. Courts expect tenants to have given the landlord notice and a chance to fix the problem before escalating.

Rent, late fees, and rent control

Georgia law sets no cap on late fees. Landlords may charge any late fee that is stated in the lease agreement. The lease should specify the dollar amount (or percentage of rent) and the number of days after the due date before the fee applies. Late fees not mentioned in the lease are generally unenforceable.

There is no statutory requirement in Georgia for advance notice of a rent increase. For month-to-month tenants, a rent increase effectively requires the 60-day landlord notice needed to change any material term of the tenancy. For fixed-term leases, rent cannot change during the lease term unless the lease explicitly allows it.

Georgia preempts local rent control by statute. No city or county in Georgia may enact rent stabilization or rent control ordinances. This has been state policy since at least 1984 under O.C.G.A. 44-7-19. Tenants cannot benefit from any local rent cap in Georgia.

If you have a landlord-tenant dispute in Georgia

Start by documenting everything in writing. Send repair requests, deposit-return demands, and notices of lease violations by email or certified mail with return receipt. A paper trail is critical in any Georgia landlord-tenant dispute.

For security-deposit disputes, Georgia Magistrate Court (small claims) handles cases involving up to $15,000. Filing fees are low and no attorney is required. If the landlord missed the 30-day deadline that runs from obtaining possession, or failed to provide the required written statement, the landlord forfeits the right to withhold any of the deposit, and under O.C.G.A. 44-7-35(c) a court may award three times the sum improperly withheld plus reasonable attorney's fees unless the landlord proves a bona fide error. Landlords exempt under O.C.G.A. 44-7-36 are outside those remedies.

The Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) does not directly mediate individual tenant complaints, but its website provides guidance on the landlord-tenant laws updated for 2024. Some counties have housing offices or legal aid organizations that provide free or low-cost assistance for income-eligible tenants.

For habitability complaints, contacting your local code enforcement office can produce an official inspection report, which carries weight in court. Code violations documented by a city or county inspector are harder for a landlord to dispute than a tenant's word alone.

For complex disputes, retaliation claims, or HB 404-related habitability questions under the new statute, consulting a licensed Georgia attorney is the surest path. The State Bar of Georgia's lawyer referral service can connect you with attorneys who handle residential landlord-tenant matters.

This article is general legal information, not legal advice. Landlord-tenant rules vary by state and city and change, and some cities add their own ordinances. For advice about a specific situation, consult a licensed attorney or your state housing agency.

Related: Landlord-Tenant Laws by State (hub) | Georgia Eviction Notice | Georgia Squatters Rights

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