- Georgia allows landlords to evict tenants without cause through a dispossessory proceeding. Tenants must be given written notice and can challenge the eviction in court. - If a tenant loses, they will be removed by the sheriff. They can appeal within 7 days. Tenants in subsidized housing have greater legal protections against eviction. - Tenants can get legal assistance from organizations like Georgia Legal Services if facing eviction and unable to afford a private attorney.

1. Eviction Under
Georgia Law

2. Vocabulary
• Dispossessory Proceeding: The court proceeding a landlord must
use in order to remove a tenant from rental property (also referred
to as “eviction”)
• Distraint: The legal proceeding a landlord must use in order to
seize personal property from a tenant (which is usually then sold
to compensate the landlord for past due rent).
• Lease: A contract between a landlord and a tenant.
• Under a lease, the tenant pays rent, and the landlord gives the tenant physical possession
of certain rental property for a tenant to use (e.g., to live in, as with a rental house).
• Leases are usually in writing, but can be oral.

3. When Can a Landlord Evict a Tenant?
•Georgia is a “no-cause” eviction state. This means a
landlord can evict a tenant from rental property for no
reason at all.
•If a tenant has a lease; however, the terms of the lease will
control on the issue of eviction.
•The law of the United States also sets limits on what a
landlord can do when evicting a tenant.
• A landlord cannot evict a tenant for reasons such as race or gender.
• Anti-discrimination laws apply in eviction cases.

4. How Is a Tenant Notified of an Eviction
•A landlord must give a tenant notice in order to
initiate the eviction process.
•A notice of eviction will usually be in writing, but it can be
oral.
•The notice will include a demand that the tenant vacate the
property he/she is renting by a certain date.
•If the tenant does not vacate the property by the specified
date, then the landlord can initiate a dispossessory
proceeding.

5. How Much Notice Must a Landlord Give
a Tenant?
•If there is a lease, the notice provision in the lease will control
on this issue. In other words, the Landlord will have to give as
much notice as is required by the lease.
•If there is no lease and the eviction is for past due rent, the
notice period can be very short, even as little as one day.
•If there is no lease and the eviction is for any other reason, the
landlord must give the tenant 60 days notice.
•The tenant has the legal right to remain in the rental property
during the notice period

6. What Should a Tenant Do Following
Notification?
•If a tenant wants to challenge his/her eviction,
he/she should:
•Keep copies of all paperwork, including leases,
•Keep track of all deadlines,
•File all necessary documents with the court on time, and
•Appear in court on the date of the hearing.

7. Are There Limits on What a Landlord Can
Do?
•A landlord cannot use “self-help” measures to
dispossess a tenant without going to court or prior to
going to court.
• “Self-help” measures include such things as:
• Changing the locks on the rental property,
• Having the utilities turned off, or
• Removing the tenant’s belongings from the rental property.
•A landlord must have a court order before the landlord
can evict a tenant.

8. Can a Landlord Do Anything Else?
•If a tenant is behind on paying his/her rent, the landlord can
file a distraint case and seize the tenant’s personal property.
•To win the distraint case, the landlord must show that the
tenant:
• Is behind on his/her rent payments, and
• Is attempting to remove his/her personal belongings from the rental property.
•If the court rules in favor of the landlord, the tenant’s personal
property:
• Will be advertised in the newspaper, and
• Sold at a public auction.

9. How Does a Landlord Proceed with a
Dispossessory Case?
•The landlord must:
• File the dispossessory proceeding with the court, and
• Make sure the tenant receives notice that the proceeding has been filed
• The tenant will receive the notification from the sheriff or other law enforcement
officer. The notice can be given personally to an adult living in the rental property
or it can be tacked on the door with a copy of the notice being simultaneously
mailed to the tenant.
•The tenant has 7 days after receiving the notice to respond to
the case filed against him/her
•If the tenant responds, there will be a court hearing to decide
whether the landlord or tenant wins the case. If the tenant
does not respond, the landlord will automatically win the case

10. How Should a Tenant Respond?
•The tenant’s response is called an “answer.”
•The answer must be filled in writing or be made orally
to the Clerk of Court.
•The answer should include:
•All defenses or reasons why the court should not
order the eviction, and/or
•All claims against the landlord.

11. What Must the Landlord Do to Prove the
Case?
•The landlord has to prove that:
•The landlord is the rightful owner or holder of the property,
and
•The landlord gave proper notice of the eviction to the tenant.
•If the eviction is for non-payment of rent, the landlord
must also prove that the rent has not been paid.
•If the eviction is for the violation of a lease, the landlord
must prove that the violation occurred.

12. Are There Defenses a Tenant Can Raise?
•If a landlord is attempting to evict a tenant for not paying
rent, the tenant has an absolute defense provided he/she
can pay:
•All the rent that is due, and
•All the costs of the landlord’s court case.
•If the tenant raises this defense, the rent must be paid to
the landlord within 7 days after the tenant receives notice
that the dispossessory proceeding has been filed.
•A tenant can use this defense with the same landlord only
one time within a 12 month period

13. Defenses cont.
•There are no other substantial defenses that can be
raised to contest an eviction.
•A tenant may be able to delay eviction if the landlord did
not properly notify him/her of it.
•Also, there may be an anti-discrimination defense under
the Federal Housing Act, but these defenses are hard to
prove.
• The Federal Housing Act does not allow landlords to discriminate
against tenants based on their race, color, national origin, religion, sex,
familial status (such as number of children or pregnancy), or handicap
(disability).

14. Are There Claims a Tenant Can Raise?
•A tenant may raise acclaim against a landlord if the
landlord does not make necessary repairs to the
rental property.
•Landlords are required by a “warranty of
habitability” to make the repairs necessary for rental
property to be livable.

15. What Happens if a Tenant Wins the
Case?
•If a tenant wins an eviction case, he/she may stay in
the rental property.
•A landlord can evict the tenant later for other
reasons.

16. What Happens if a Tenant Loses the
Case?
•The tenant may leave the rental property voluntarily.
•Usually, a sheriff or marshal will go to the rental
property and physically remove the tenant and
his/her belongings from it.
•The landlord or sheriff has the right to:
•Move the tenant’s personal items to the street or
sidewalk, and
•Change the locks on the rental property.

17. Can a Tenant Appeal the Court’s
Decision?
•Decisions in dispossessory cases can be appealed. In these
cases, the appeal is “de novo” which means the tenant gets to
start over with a new trial.
•The tenant must file an appeal within 7 days of the court’s
decision.
•Tenants who appeal eviction cases are allowed to stay in the
rental property while the appeal is pending. When this happens,
the tenant may be required to pay rent to the court while
waiting for the higher court to make its decision on the appeal.

18. Subsidized Housing
•Tenants who live in subsidized housing have greater rights
than those described in this presentation.
•Subsidized housing includes public housing, USDA housing,
and Section 8 housing (including situations where a Section 8
voucher or waiver is used to pay rent to a private landlord).
•Tenants who live in a subsidized housing and who
experience problems with their landlords, including the
threat of eviction, should contact a legal assistance
program or a private attorney.

19. Where Can a Tenant Get Help with an
Eviction Case?
•Georgia Legal Services Program: This organization provides legal
assistance to low-income families who cannot afford to hire a private
attorney. Call: 404-206-5175 or 1-800-369-4706.
•Atlanta Legal Aid Society: This organization provides legal assistance to
low-income families. Housing issues are among this organization’s top
priorities. Call: 404-524-5811.
•Atlanta Bar Association: This organization provides referrals of lawyers to
people in the Atlanta area. Call: 404-521-0777.
•Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation: This organization provides civil
legal representation through the use of volunteer lawyers. AVLF serves
Fulton County residents who do not live in the city of Atlanta. Call: 404-
521-0790.