Georgia Lease Agreement

1. Owner and manager. The names and addresses of the owner of record (or the owner's agent for service of process) and of the manager, given at or before the start of the tenancy (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-3(a)). Changes must be passed on within 30 days.
2. Deposit rules. A deposit within the two-month cap, where it is held (escrow bank or court bond), the move-in damage list and the 30-day return rule.
3. Disclosures. The flood disclosure if the living space flooded at least three times in five years (§ 44-7-20), and the federal lead paint disclosure for homes built before 1978.

This form prints all of these, plus the 2024 rules from HB 404: the habitability promise, the three-business-day notice to vacate or pay, and how that notice is delivered. Any clause making the tenant pay your attorney's fees is printed both ways, because a one-sided one is void (§ 44-7-2(c)).

For leases entered into or renewed on or after July 1, 2024, no more than two months' rent (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-30.1, added by HB 404). The form caps it for you: if you type more, the lease prints two months of the rent you entered. A pet deposit is counted as part of the security deposit, so it only takes what is left under the cap - the safe reading, since the deposit rules cover any money you hold for the tenant as security.

Keep the deposit in a separate escrow account at a regulated bank and tell the tenant in writing where it is (§ 44-7-31) - the lease prints the bank and branch you enter. Or post a surety bond with the clerk of the superior court instead (§ 44-7-32). A landlord who is a natural person and, with spouse and minor children, owns ten or fewer rental units not managed by a third party for a fee is exempt from the escrow, bond and list rules (§ 44-7-36), but not from the cap or the 30-day return.

Before the tenant pays the deposit, you give them a comprehensive list of any existing damage. The tenant may inspect the unit to check it before moving in, and you both sign it. A tenant who disagrees must write down the specific items they dissent from and sign that statement (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-33(a)). The list must also tell the tenant about this duty to sign or dissent (§ 44-7-33(c)).

Use our free move-in checklist: choose Georgia and it prints the sign-or-dissent notice. The lease includes the list clause for every landlord - small landlords are exempt from it, but a signed list is your best evidence when you deduct.

Within 30 days after you get the unit back, with a written statement of the exact reasons for anything you keep. Mailing it first-class to the tenant's last known address is enough. Nothing may be deducted for ordinary wear and tear (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-34(a)). Inspect within three business days after the lease ends and the tenant leaves, and list the damage; the tenant may inspect within five business days to check your list (§ 44-7-33(b)).

Get it wrong and it costs: a landlord who improperly withholds a deposit can owe three times the sum improperly withheld plus reasonable attorney's fees (§ 44-7-35). Missing the list deadlines can forfeit the right to keep any of it.

First give a written notice to vacate or pay all past due rent, late fees, utilities and other charges within three business days (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-50(c)). It must be posted in a sealed envelope on the door and delivered by any extra method agreed in the lease (§ 44-7-50(d)). Choose that method in the form - first-class mail or e-mail - and the lease names it. Only after the three business days can you file a dispossessory affidavit in court.

Our free Georgia eviction notice fills in the notice and counts the deadline. You may not cut off the tenant's cooling, heat, light or water service to force them out (§ 44-7-14.1(a)).

Flood: before signing, disclose in writing if flooding damaged the living space at least three times in the five years before the lease (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-20). Choose "Yes" and the lease prints the disclosure; choose "No" and it states you are not aware of such flooding.

Habitability: since HB 404, every Georgia lease is deemed to promise that the unit is fit for human habitation (§ 44-7-13(b)). The duty to repair, the eviction procedure and the deposit rules cannot be waived in a lease (§ 44-7-2(b)). Georgia has no statute capping late fees or setting a notice period for entry - the lease uses the late fee and grace period you enter and requires reasonable notice before entry.

If the tenant stays on and you accept rent, the lease becomes a tenancy at will. To end it you give 60 days' notice; the tenant gives 30 days' (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-7). A service member who gets qualifying military orders can end the lease by written notice and owes no more than 30 days' rent after it (§ 44-7-37).

Live outside Georgia and rent out a single-family home or duplex? A 2025 law requires you to use a licensed Georgia real estate broker to manage it (§ 44-7-25). Renting in another state? Use our general residential lease agreement.

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