Georgia residential lease agreement

State form

• The Georgia Landlord-Tenant Handbook says a lease violates the law if it excuses the landlord from Georgia security deposit law or allows eviction without going through court.¹
• A Georgia lease may not make the tenant pay the landlord’s attorney fees for a tenant breach unless it also makes the landlord pay the tenant’s fees for a landlord breach, according to the state handbook.¹
• Before signing a lease, a Georgia landlord must warn the prospective tenant in writing if the home flooded at least three times in the past five years and the living space was damaged.¹
• Georgia’s handbook warns that oral leases often lead to disputes over what was agreed and can be ended with less notice than a written lease.¹

Signing

• Under the Georgia handbook, a tenant is bound by a signed lease even without having read or understood it.¹
• Georgia landlords who own more than ten rental units, counting units of a spouse or children, or who use a management agent, must run a move-in inspection.¹
• The Georgia move-in damage list is signed by both the landlord and the tenant, and the tenant keeps a copy.¹
• At move-out, a Georgia tenant signs the landlord’s damage list or states in writing which items the tenant disputes.¹

Deadlines

• Every Georgia landlord, whatever the number of units, must return the security deposit within 30 days after the lease ends or the tenants leave, whichever comes last.¹
• When a Georgia landlord keeps deposit money for damage, a notice within 30 days must list the damage, its estimated cost and any refund of the difference.¹
• Within three business days after a Georgia lease ends, a landlord covered by the inspection rule must inspect the unit and prepare a list of damage with estimated values, and the tenant may inspect within five business days.¹
• To end a Georgia tenancy at will, the landlord gives 60 days’ notice and the tenant gives 30 days’ notice.¹
• A Georgia landlord must give a tenant at will 60 days’ notice of a rent increase.¹
• Before filing for possession over unpaid rent or charges, a Georgia landlord must give the tenant a notice to pay or vacate within three business days.³
• A Georgia deposit mailed to the tenant’s last known address and returned as undeliverable belongs to the landlord 90 days after mailing, if the landlord cannot find the tenant after a reasonable effort.¹
• A Georgia tenant with a court protection order may in some cases end the lease with 30 days’ notice to the landlord.¹

Where it is filed

• Georgia landlords with more than ten units, or with a management agent, must keep deposits in a bank escrow account used only for deposits, or post a bond with the superior court clerk.¹
• A Georgia landlord who keeps the deposit in escrow must tell tenants in writing where it is held.¹
• The Georgia notice to pay or vacate is posted in a sealed envelope on the door of the home and also delivered by any method the rental agreement sets.³
• Georgia Code Section 44-7-25 requires a landlord who lives outside Georgia and owns or operates single-family or duplex rentals in the state to employ a licensed real estate broker.⁴
• From January 1, 2027, a Georgia court may, after a motion and a hearing, seal the records of an eviction case that the tenant won.²

Law

• Georgia Code Section 44-7-30.1, added by the Safe at Home Act, bars a landlord from demanding or receiving a security deposit larger than two months’ rent.³
• The Georgia Safe at Home Act applies to residential leases entered into or renewed on or after July 1, 2024.³
• Since the Safe at Home Act, every Georgia agreement to rent a dwelling, oral or written, is deemed to promise that the home is fit for human habitation.³
• A Georgia landlord with more than ten units or a management agent who wrongly keeps a deposit can owe three times the amount withheld plus attorney fees, unless the withholding was a mistake the landlord tried to avoid.¹
• Georgia law presumes retaliation when a landlord files for eviction, raises the rent or ends the lease within three months after a tenant’s protected action, such as asking for repairs.¹
• A Georgia tenant who wins a retaliation claim may recover one month’s rent plus $500, court costs and possibly attorney fees, minus any balance owed to the landlord.¹
• The Georgia Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division says the state cannot step into a dispute between a landlord and a tenant or force either one to act.⁵

• Property address and what is included (parking, storage, appliances)
• Start date, end date or month-to-month term
• Monthly rent, due date and security deposit amount
• Rules on pets, smoking, repairs and utilities

It is not a roommate agreement between tenants, and it is not a commercial lease for a store or office.