To kick someone out of your house in Georgia, you first have to figure out whether the person is a guest or a tenant, because the legal path is completely different. A guest who won’t leave after you revoke permission is a trespasser, and police can remove them. A tenant — even one with no written lease and no formal rent arrangement — has to be removed through a court eviction called a dispossessory action, which starts with written notice and ends with a sheriff executing a writ of possession. Treating a tenant like a guest, or trying to force anyone out by changing locks or shutting off utilities, can expose you to criminal charges and a civil lawsuit.
Guest or Tenant: The Question That Decides Everything
A guest is someone staying with your permission who pays nothing and has no arrangement to contribute in exchange for the room. A friend sleeping on your couch while they job-hunt is a guest. Their right to be there is your permission, and nothing else.
A tenant is anyone in a landlord-tenant relationship with you, and Georgia does not require a written lease for that relationship to exist. When no written agreement sets a term, the law treats the arrangement as a tenancy at will.1Justia. Georgia Code 44-7-6 – Tenancy at Will – Creation When No Time Period Specified A verbal deal to pay rent can create one. So can a pattern of contributing to utilities or groceries in exchange for a place to stay. Georgia courts have recognized oral rental arrangements as valid tenancies at will.
The test is whether something of value is changing hands for the housing. Your adult child who lives rent-free and pays nothing toward the bills is almost certainly a guest. That same child paying you $400 a month toward the mortgage, with the understanding that the payment is what lets them stay, looks like a tenant to a court. This distinction matters most when police arrive: if the person on your couch claims they’ve been paying you, officers will usually back off and tell you it’s a civil matter.
Removing a Guest Who Refuses to Leave
For a genuine guest, tell them clearly they need to go and give them a reasonable amount of time to gather their things. A day or two is generally plenty. Put the request in writing where you can — a text or email creates a timestamped record of when you revoked permission.
Once you’ve told them to leave and given reasonable time, a guest who stays is trespassing. Under Georgia law, a person commits criminal trespass when they knowingly remain on property after receiving notice to depart from the owner or rightful occupant.2Justia. Georgia Code 16-7-21 – Criminal Trespass Call local police. Because the person is committing a misdemeanor by staying, officers have authority to remove them.
The soft spot in this process is any claim the guest makes about paying you. If they tell police they’ve been contributing rent, officers usually won’t force the issue, and you’ll be pushed into the tenant process. Avoid informal payment arrangements that muddy the question.
Notice Requirements for Removing a Tenant
You cannot ask police to remove a tenant, and you cannot just tell them to get out. Georgia requires a formal written notice first, and the type of notice depends on why you want them gone.
Ending a Tenancy at Will
If there’s no written lease, you’re almost always dealing with a tenancy at will. To end one, Georgia law requires 60 days’ written notice from the landlord.3Justia. Georgia Code 44-7-7 – Tenancy at Will – Notice Required for Termination The notice should state that you’re terminating the tenancy and give a specific vacate date at least 60 days out. Send it by certified mail, or hand it over with a witness present. You do not need to give a reason. The 60 days is the legal end of the relationship; if the person is still there after that, you file in court.
Nonpayment of Rent
When the person owes rent, the timeline is much shorter. You give them a written demand for possession — not a casual reminder — telling them to either pay everything owed or vacate within three business days.4Justia. Georgia Code 44-7-50 – Demand for Possession; Procedure Upon a Tenants Refusal; Notice to Vacate or Pay If they neither pay nor leave, you can file the next day.
Lease Violations
For a tenant with a written lease who has violated its terms, the lease usually specifies the notice period. Where it doesn’t, Georgia law still requires a demand for possession before filing but does not fix a specific number of days.4Justia. Georgia Code 44-7-50 – Demand for Possession; Procedure Upon a Tenants Refusal; Notice to Vacate or Pay Courts expect reasonable notice, which in practice is a few days to a week.
Filing the Dispossessory Action
Once the notice period expires and the tenant is still there, you file a dispossessory affidavit in the magistrate court for the county where the property sits. This sworn statement starts the lawsuit. You’ll need the tenant’s name, the address, and the grounds for eviction. Filing fees vary by county, typically $50 to $100.
The sheriff’s department serves the tenant with the affidavit and a summons. The tenant then has seven days from service to file an answer, in writing or in person. If no answer comes in, the court enters a default judgment and issues a writ of possession — the order that lets a sheriff physically remove the tenant.5Justia. Georgia Code 44-7-55 – Judgment; Writ of Possession If the tenant does answer, the court sets a hearing, usually within a few weeks, and a judge decides.
After the Judgment
A writ of possession becomes effective seven days after the judgment date. That gap gives the tenant time to leave voluntarily or file an appeal. If neither happens, you ask the sheriff to execute the writ, and the tenant and their belongings are removed. You must apply for execution within 30 days, or you’ll have to file a new writ. If the sheriff can’t get to it within 14 days of your request, Georgia lets you hire an off-duty certified law enforcement officer to execute the writ at your own expense.5Justia. Georgia Code 44-7-55 – Judgment; Writ of Possession
A tenant who wants to appeal has seven days from the judgment to file and must pay any rent the court found due into the reviewing court’s registry, then keep paying monthly rent into the registry while the appeal is pending.6Justia. Georgia Code 44-7-56 – Appeal; Procedure Miss a payment and the landlord can proceed with removal. In practice, a tenant who lost at trial for not paying rent rarely has the money to keep an appeal alive.
Once the writ has been executed, Georgia treats any belongings left behind as abandoned, and the landlord has no duty to safeguard them.5Justia. Georgia Code 44-7-55 – Judgment; Writ of Possession That protection only starts after the sheriff acts. Putting property on the curb yourself, before the writ has been executed, is illegal.
What You Cannot Do
This is where homeowners most often make a costly mistake. When someone won’t leave, the urge to force the issue is strong. Georgia law flatly prohibits it. You cannot:
- Shut off utilities. Cutting cooling, heat, light, or water to a tenant is unlawful until the dispossessory proceeding is finally resolved, and it carries a fine of up to $500.7Justia. Georgia Code 44-7-14.1 – Landlords Duties as to Utilities
- Change the locks. Locking a tenant out without a court order is illegal even when rent hasn’t been paid.8GeorgiaLegalAid.org. What Should I Know About Evictions
- Move their belongings out. Hauling furniture to the curb before the writ has been executed exposes you to liability for the property and a wrongful eviction claim.
- Threaten or harass them into leaving. Intimidation aimed at forcing a tenant out gives them grounds to sue you for damages.
Only a sheriff or authorized law enforcement officer executing a valid court order can physically remove a tenant. Skipping the process almost always costs more than following it, even when the process feels painfully slow.
A Faster Path When There’s Family Violence
If the person in your home has been physically abusive, threatening, or violent, Georgia’s Family Violence Act lets a victim petition superior court for a temporary protective order that can direct the abuser to vacate the shared home immediately and grant the victim sole use of the residence.9Georgia Secretary of State. OCGA 19-13-4 – Protective Order The relationships covered include current and former spouses, parents and children, stepparents and stepchildren, foster relationships, and anyone currently or formerly living in the same household. A judge can issue an ex parte order the same day when the facts warrant it, with a hearing set for the other person typically within 30 days. This path is not a workaround for a housemate you simply don’t want around, and courts treat false petitions seriously. Where genuine violence is happening, it can move a dangerous person out in days instead of months.
How Long the Whole Process Takes
- Guest removal: as fast as same-day if police accept that the person is a guest with no tenancy claim. Realistically, one to three days.
- Tenancy at will with no lease: 60-day notice minimum, plus roughly two to four weeks for an uncontested court process. A contested case adds several more weeks. Roughly two to four months total.
- Nonpayment of rent: three business days for the pay-or-vacate notice, then two to four weeks in court. Often the fastest eviction ground because the notice is so short.
- After judgment: seven days until the writ is effective, then a reasonable time for the sheriff. If more than 14 days pass, you can hire a certified off-duty officer.
Appeals can stretch the timeline, but the rent-into-registry requirement means they rarely delay removal in practice.