Georgia doesn't put its landlord disclosure duties in one tidy statute — it scatters them across O.C.G.A. Title 44, Chapter 7, and the 2024 Safe at Home Act (HB 404, effective July 1, 2024) added several more. A compliant Georgia residential lease has to surface the owner's identity, the property's flood history, where the security deposit is held, and a move-in condition list — and, since the 2024 reforms, respect a new statutory deposit cap. This is the checklist, statute by statute.
The required-disclosure checklist
1. Owner or authorized-agent identity — O.C.G.A. § 44-7-3. Before or at the start of the tenancy, the landlord must disclose in writing the name and address of the owner (or the person authorized to manage the premises and to receive notices and demands). If that information changes, it has to be updated within 30 days. This one applies to every Georgia landlord — there's no small-landlord carve-out.
2. Flood history — O.C.G.A. § 44-7-20. If the unit has flooded at least three times in the previous five years, the landlord must disclose that in writing before the lease is signed. Also universal — no exemption.
3. Security-deposit escrow location — O.C.G.A. § 44-7-31. A landlord who takes a deposit must hold it in an escrow account in a state- or federally-regulated institution and tell the tenant where. The alternative is a surety bond under O.C.G.A. § 44-7-32. This duty is subject to the small-landlord exemption below.
4. Move-in condition list — O.C.G.A. § 44-7-33. Before the tenant hands over the deposit, the landlord must give a written list of existing damage, and the tenant has the right to inspect the premises to confirm it. This list is what protects both sides at move-out. Also subject to the exemption.
5. Lead-based paint — federal. For any dwelling built before 1978, the federal lead-paint disclosure and EPA pamphlet are required regardless of state law.
The small-landlord exemption (§ 44-7-36) — the part that trips people up
Here's the nuance that catches Georgia landlords: O.C.G.A. § 44-7-36 exempts a natural person who owns ten or fewer rental units and manages them personally from the escrow-account, surety-bond, move-in-list, and related requirements (§§ 44-7-31, 44-7-32, 44-7-33, 44-7-35).
Two traps live inside that exemption:
- Hiring a manager destroys it. The moment you use a third-party management company — even for a single unit — the exemption is gone and every one of those duties snaps back on.
- It's narrow. The exemption only covers the deposit-mechanics statutes. The universal disclosures still apply to everyone: owner/agent identity (§ 44-7-3), flood history (§ 44-7-20), the new deposit cap (§ 44-7-30.1), and the implied warranty of habitability (§ 44-7-13).
So "I own six houses and self-manage, I'm exempt" is only half true — you're exempt from the escrow and move-in-list rules, not from the identity, flood, cap, and habitability duties.
What changed on July 1, 2024 (Safe at Home Act)
Georgia's landlord-tenant law was famously bare-bones until the Safe at Home Act (HB 404) took effect July 1, 2024. Three changes matter for lease drafting:
- A 2-month deposit cap — O.C.G.A. § 44-7-30.1. For the first time, Georgia caps the total of all refundable deposits a landlord may collect at two months' rent. This is new — a lot of older Georgia lease templates (and even some reference sources) still say "no cap." They're out of date.
- Statutory implied warranty of habitability — O.C.G.A. § 44-7-13. Landlords must keep the premises fit for human habitation; this is now an express statutory duty, not just common law.
- Three-business-day pre-eviction notice — O.C.G.A. § 44-7-50. Before filing a dispossessory for nonpayment, the landlord must give the tenant a 3-business-day opportunity to pay.
For the deposit-return timing mechanics (itemization and the return window), see how a neighboring state structures the same problem in Florida's 15-day / 30-day deposit rule — Georgia's return and treble-damages exposure runs through § 44-7-34 and § 44-7-35.
What it costs to get it wrong
Georgia backs the deposit rules with O.C.G.A. § 44-7-35: a landlord who wrongfully withholds a deposit — including by failing to follow the move-in-list and itemization procedure — forfeits the right to retain any of it and can be liable for three times the wrongfully withheld amount plus attorney's fees. Skipping the § 44-7-33 condition list isn't a paperwork nicety; it's what strips the landlord of the defense at move-out.
Common mistakes
Assuming "no deposit cap." Since July 1, 2024, § 44-7-30.1 caps refundable deposits at two months' rent. Templates that predate the Safe at Home Act are wrong on this.
Thinking self-management means fully exempt. The § 44-7-36 exemption covers only the deposit-mechanics statutes, and only while you self-manage ten or fewer units. Owner-identity, flood, cap, and habitability duties still apply.
Skipping the move-in condition list. Under § 44-7-33 it's a precondition to lawfully keeping any deposit; skip it and § 44-7-35 treble damages are on the table.
Omitting the flood disclosure. The § 44-7-20 three-floods-in-five-years disclosure is easy to forget and applies to every landlord, exemption or not.
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Statutory references
- O.C.G.A. § 44-7-3 — written disclosure of owner / authorized-agent identity; 30-day update duty.
- O.C.G.A. § 44-7-13 — statutory implied warranty of habitability (Safe at Home Act, eff. 2024-07-01).
- O.C.G.A. § 44-7-20 — flood-history disclosure (flooding ≥ 3 times in the prior 5 years).
- O.C.G.A. § 44-7-30.1 — 2-month cap on total refundable deposits (Safe at Home Act, eff. 2024-07-01).
- O.C.G.A. § 44-7-31 / § 44-7-32 — deposit escrow-account location notice, or surety-bond alternative.
- O.C.G.A. § 44-7-33 — move-in written condition list + tenant right to inspect.
- O.C.G.A. § 44-7-34 — deposit-return obligation after termination.
- O.C.G.A. § 44-7-35 — forfeiture + treble damages + attorney's fees for wrongful withholding.
- O.C.G.A. § 44-7-36 — small-landlord exemption (≤ 10 units, self-managed; lost if third-party managed).
- O.C.G.A. § 44-7-50 — 3-business-day pre-eviction notice for nonpayment (Safe at Home Act).