LANDLORD RESOURCES · SOUTHCOAST PROPERTIES
If you own a rental home in Chatham, Bryan, Liberty, or Effingham County and you’re managing it yourself, sooner or later you’ll run into a question that a Google search half-answers: How much can I charge for a deposit? How long do I have to give it back? What actually happens if a tenant stops paying rent?
Georgia rewrote a lot of these answers in 2024. The Safe at Home Act (HB 404) was the biggest change to Georgia landlord-tenant law in decades, and a surprising number of self-managing owners — and even some smaller management companies — are still operating off the old rules. Getting this wrong isn’t just a paperwork problem. Georgia’s security deposit statute carries treble damages (three times the deposit) for landlords who mishandle it.
Here’s what the law actually says, current as of 2026.
This article is for general information only and isn’t legal advice. Rules change, and specifics matter — talk to a Georgia landlord-tenant attorney before you act on any of this in a real dispute.
Security Deposits: What’s Changed
How much can a landlord charge?
For leases signed or renewed on or after July 1, 2024, Georgia law caps security deposits at two months’ rent (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-30.1). That cap includes pet deposits — a pet deposit stacked on top of a full security deposit can’t push the total past two months’ rent.
Leases that were already in place before July 1, 2024, and haven’t been renewed since, technically aren’t bound by the new cap. But if you’re writing a new lease today, the two-month ceiling applies, full stop.
Where the money has to go
If you own more than ten rental units, or you use a property management company, Georgia law requires the deposit to sit in a dedicated escrow account at a Georgia bank or savings institution — or you can post a surety bond with the superior court instead (O.C.G.A. §§ 44-7-31, 44-7-32). Either way, you’re required to tell the tenant in writing where the money is being held.
Owners with ten or fewer units and no property manager get more flexibility, but “more flexibility” isn’t the same as “no risk” — see the penalty section below.
One catch worth knowing before you hire anyone: that flexibility disappears the moment a third party manages the property for a fee — even a single-door owner using a property manager is bound by the full escrow, disclosure, and documentation requirements (O.C.G.A. §§ 44-7-31, 44-7-36). It’s not a unit-count threshold alone; it’s a “who’s collecting the rent” threshold. If you’re comparing self-managing to hiring a property manager, this is one of the tradeoffs to understand going in — a management company should already be doing the compliant version as a matter of course.
What you can and can’t deduct
Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-33) limits deductions to three categories:
- Unpaid rent
- Damage to the property beyond normal wear and tear
- Other costs directly tied to a lease breach
“Normal wear and tear” is the phrase that generates the most disputes — worn carpet after a three-year tenancy is wear and tear; a burn hole in that carpet isn’t. A documented move-in condition report is your best protection here, and it’s legally required for owners with more than ten units.
The 30-day rule — and why it has teeth
Once a tenant moves out, you have 30 days to either return the full deposit or send an itemized written statement explaining what you’re keeping and why (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-34). There’s no partial credit for being close. Miss the deadline, and you forfeit your right to withhold any portion of the deposit — you owe it all back, even if the tenant genuinely trashed the place.
Here’s the part that catches owners off guard: this penalty doesn’t require proof that you acted in bad faith. Miss the deadline, skip the itemized statement, or can’t back up a deduction with documentation, and you’re exposed to up to three times the deposit amount plus the tenant’s attorney’s fees (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-35) — regardless of intent. On a $2,400 deposit, that’s a potential $7,200+ exposure over paperwork, not wrongdoing.
Tenants can also file a complaint with the Georgia Department of Law’s Consumer Protection Unit, which tracks repeat offenders.
The one exception to the 30-day clock: active-duty military tenants, where landlords get up to 60 days under certain conditions — relevant for a lot of owners near Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield.
Notice Requirements: What You Owe Tenants Before You Can File for Eviction
Nonpayment of rent
This is the piece HB 404 changed the most. For leases entered into or renewed on or after July 1, 2024, you can no longer file for eviction the moment rent is late. You must first serve a written notice giving the tenant three business days to pay everything owed — rent, late fees, unpaid utilities — or vacate (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-50(c)-(d)). Weekends and holidays don’t count toward those three days. The notice has to state the exact dollar amount owed, and it needs to be delivered the way your lease specifies, typically posted on the door in a sealed envelope in addition to any other method.
If the tenant pays in full within that window, the nonpayment case is dead — you can’t proceed with a dispossessory filing on it. If they don’t pay and don’t leave, you can file immediately once the three business days pass.
For leases that predate July 1, 2024 and haven’t been renewed, the old rule (a demand for possession with no fixed waiting period) technically still applies — but serving the compliant notice anyway is the safer default, since it removes any argument later that your filing was premature.
Other lease violations
For breaches that aren’t about rent — unauthorized pets, property damage, unauthorized occupants — Georgia law doesn’t set a fixed cure period. Best practice is still a written notice with a reasonable window to fix the issue, spelled out in your lease.
Ending a month-to-month tenancy without cause
If there’s no lease violation and you simply want the tenant out at the end of a month-to-month arrangement, Georgia requires 60 days’ written notice from the landlord (tenants only owe you 30 days if they’re the one ending it) under O.C.G.A. § 44-7-7. Georgia has no rent control and no just-cause eviction requirement — but the notice period is not optional, and courts will dismiss a case filed before it runs.
The Eviction Process Itself
Georgia calls it a “dispossessory proceeding,” and it only works one way: through the courts.
- Serve the required notice (3 business days for nonpayment; 60 days for no-cause termination; reasonable written notice for other violations).
- File a dispossessory affidavit with the magistrate court in the county where the property sits, if the tenant hasn’t paid or vacated.
- The tenant is served and has 7 days to file a written answer with the court.
- A hearing is scheduled. If you win, the court issues a writ of possession.
- Only the sheriff or a marshal can physically remove a tenant — and only after the writ is issued.
What you cannot do, under any circumstance: change the locks, shut off utilities, remove a tenant’s belongings, or otherwise force someone out yourself. Self-help eviction is illegal in Georgia regardless of how far behind on rent someone is, and it exposes you to liability that dwarfs whatever rent you’re trying to collect.
One more piece worth knowing: the Safe at Home Act also created a statutory warranty of habitability and retaliation protections. A tenant who reports a legitimate habitability issue — no heat, no working plumbing — is protected from eviction in retaliation for that report for three months (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-24). If a habitability complaint and an eviction filing happen close together, expect a magistrate judge to look closely at the timeline.
Where Self-Managing Owners Usually Get Hurt
In practice, the exposure isn’t in knowing these rules exist — it’s in the details: forgetting the escrow disclosure, missing the 30-day deadline by a few days during a busy stretch, sending a nonpayment notice that doesn’t state the exact amount owed, or not being able to produce a move-in condition report when a deposit dispute goes to magistrate court.
None of it is complicated in isolation. It’s the combination — accurate documentation, correct timelines, and consistent process across every tenant — that turns into a full-time compliance job, especially once you own more than one or two properties.
This is exactly the kind of liability we manage for our owners every day: escrowed deposits handled correctly, move-in/move-out documentation on file for every property, and notices that are served on time and hold up if a case ends up in front of a magistrate judge. If you’re currently self-managing and want a second opinion on whether your process would survive a dispute, reach out to our team — we manage close to 450 homes across Chatham, Bryan, Liberty, and Effingham counties, and this is the part of the job we do all day, every day.
This article summarizes Georgia law as of 2026 for general informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Statutes and their interpretation can change; consult a licensed Georgia attorney regarding your specific situation.
