The eviction process in Georgia runs through magistrate court under O.C.G.A. §§ 44-7-50 through 44-7-56, and a landlord cannot shortcut it. The sequence is fixed: demand possession from the tenant, file a sworn dispossessory affidavit, have the tenant served with a summons, wait seven days for an answer, go to trial or take a default, and then wait another seven days after judgment before a sheriff or marshal executes the writ of possession. A 2024 change added a written three-business-day notice-to-pay-or-vacate requirement for nonpayment cases on leases signed or renewed on or after July 1, 2024, which is the biggest recent shift in how the process starts.
The Notice That Has to Come First
Nothing gets filed in court until the landlord demands that the tenant give up possession. For residential leases entered into or renewed on or after July 1, 2024, that demand must be in writing and must give the tenant three business days to pay all past-due rent, late fees, utilities, and other charges, or surrender the unit.1Justia Law. Georgia Code 44-7-50 – Demand for Possession; Procedure Upon a Tenant’s Refusal; Notice to Vacate or Pay Only after that three-day window closes without payment or surrender can the landlord file.
Before this amendment, Georgia had no fixed notice period for any type of eviction. Leases signed before July 2024 that have not been renewed may still fall under the older rule. Either way, a demand for possession in some form is a statutory prerequisite.
For a holdover tenant or a tenant at will or at sufferance, the landlord still has to demand possession, but there is no required waiting period. If the tenant refuses or does not deliver possession, the landlord can file right away.1Justia Law. Georgia Code 44-7-50 – Demand for Possession; Procedure Upon a Tenant’s Refusal; Notice to Vacate or Pay Skipping the demand entirely is one of the fastest ways to have a case dismissed.
Filing the Dispossessory Affidavit
The court case opens with a dispossessory affidavit filed in the magistrate court of the county where the property sits. It is sworn under oath, and it has to identify every adult tenant by full legal name, give the exact property address including any unit number, state the ground for eviction, and list the past-due rent plus a daily rent rate for amounts that will continue to accrue while the tenant stays.2Georgia Magistrate Court. MAG 30-01 Dispossessory Affidavit and Summons The daily rate matters because the court can award rent through the date of judgment or the date the tenant actually leaves, whichever comes first.
Filing fees are set by each county. In Fulton County, the dispossessory filing fee is $60, with $75 for the writ of possession and $35 for marshal service.3Fulton County Magistrate Court. Filing Fees Other counties set their own rates, so call the local clerk before filing.
Service and the Seven-Day Answer Window
Once the affidavit is filed, the court issues a summons that a sheriff or marshal must deliver. Georgia allows personal service on the tenant, substitute service on another competent adult living at the premises, or tack-and-mail (posting a copy on the door and mailing another to the last known address) once a reasonable attempt at personal or substitute service has failed.
The tenant has seven days from the date of service to file an answer with the court. The answer can be oral or written and can raise any legal or equitable defense along with counterclaims. If the seventh day lands on a weekend or legal holiday, the deadline rolls to the next business day.4Justia Law. Georgia Code 44-7-51 – Issuance of Summons; Service; Time for Answer; Defenses and Counterclaims
Missing that deadline ends the case. With no answer on file, the court enters default and the writ issues without a hearing.
Pay and Stay: The One-Time Cure
Georgia gives a residential tenant facing nonpayment eviction a single chance to stop the case by paying. Within seven days of being served, the tenant can tender all rent allegedly owed plus the cost of the dispossessory warrant. If the landlord accepts, the eviction is over and the tenant stays.5Justia Law. Georgia Code 44-7-52 – When Tender of Payment by Tenant Is a Defense
Two limits apply. This cure only works for nonpayment, not for holdover or lease-violation cases. And a landlord only has to accept it once in any twelve-month period, so a tenant who used the cure six months ago cannot use it again.5Justia Law. Georgia Code 44-7-52 – When Tender of Payment by Tenant Is a Defense If the landlord wrongfully refuses a valid first-time tender, the court will order the tenant to pay within three days, and the case ends when the tenant complies.
What Happens at the Hearing
If no answer comes in, the magistrate issues the writ of possession immediately. The affidavit stands as the full factual basis, no hearing required.6Justia Law. Georgia Code 44-7-53 – When Writ of Possession Issued
If the tenant answers on time, the case is set for trial. The statute directs courts to expedite dispossessory cases, though actual scheduling depends on the docket. At trial the judge takes evidence from both sides: the lease, payment records, written communications, photos, anything bearing on the dispute. The tenant can stay in the unit while the case is pending, but any rent coming due during that period must be paid into the court registry.6Justia Law. Georgia Code 44-7-53 – When Writ of Possession Issued A tenant who stops paying during the case can lose on that ground alone, no matter how strong the underlying defense.
Common defenses include payment or a valid tender within the seven-day window, a defective or missing demand for possession, improper service of the summons, and serious uncorrected repair problems. Georgia law requires landlords to keep the premises in repair and treats every residential lease as including a provision that the property is fit for human habitation.7Justia Law. Georgia Code 44-7-13 – Landlord’s Duties as to Repairs Counterclaims for things like a wrongfully withheld security deposit can be resolved in the same case rather than through a separate suit.
The Writ of Possession and Removal
When the landlord wins, the court enters judgment for rent due plus related claims and issues a writ of possession. The writ becomes effective seven days after the judgment, giving the tenant a short window to leave or appeal.8Justia Law. Georgia Code 44-7-55 – Judgment; Writ of Possession; Landlord’s Liability; Distribution of Funds; Personal Property After those seven days, a sheriff or marshal executes the writ. That is when locks change and the tenant is physically removed if still inside. The landlord cannot do this without the officer present.
Belongings left behind do not get the kind of protection some tenants expect. Once the writ is executed, the sheriff can authorize moving the tenant’s property out of the unit to the landlord’s property or another location the officer approves, and Georgia law states the landlord is not a bailee of that property and owes no duty to the tenant regarding it. The property is treated as abandoned.8Justia Law. Georgia Code 44-7-55 – Judgment; Writ of Possession; Landlord’s Liability; Distribution of Funds; Personal Property Anything you want to keep needs to be out before the sheriff arrives.
Appealing the Judgment
A tenant who loses at trial can appeal, but the window is seven days from the judgment to file with the trial court clerk. Staying in the property during the appeal carries a steep condition: the tenant must pay all rent the trial court found due into the registry of the reviewing court, and then pay all future rent into the registry as it comes due until the appeal is resolved.9Justia Law. Georgia Code 44-7-56 – Appeal; Procedure For most tenants, that math makes staying in possession through an appeal impractical.
What a Landlord Cannot Do
Self-help eviction is illegal in Georgia. A landlord cannot change the locks, remove doors, take out the tenant’s belongings, or shut off utilities to force a tenant out. Knowingly suspending utilities while a dispossessory case is pending is specifically prohibited, and a landlord convicted of it faces a fine of up to $500.10Justia Law. Georgia Code 44-7-14.1 – Landlord’s Duties as to Utilities A landlord who tries any of this risks being sued for damages. The only lawful route to removal is a court-issued writ of possession carried out by a sheriff or marshal.
When Federal Rules Change the Timeline
Two federal protections can pause or alter a Georgia eviction even when the landlord has done everything right under state law.
Active-Duty Military
Under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, a landlord generally cannot evict an active-duty servicemember or their dependents from a primary residence without a court order when monthly rent falls below an annually adjusted threshold. The base figure was $2,400 in 2003 and has risen since; the Department of Defense publishes the current amount in the Federal Register each year. When the servicemember’s ability to pay has been materially affected by military service, the court can stay proceedings for 90 days or longer and can adjust the rent obligation. The protection covers nonpayment situations, not material lease violations.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3951 – Evictions and Distress
Bankruptcy
A tenant’s bankruptcy filing triggers an automatic stay that halts most eviction activity. The landlord has to move the bankruptcy court for relief from the stay before continuing the dispossessory case. A narrow exception: if the landlord already had a judgment for possession before the petition was filed, the stay generally does not block enforcement, though the tenant can sometimes delay enforcement by certifying an ability to cure the default and depositing current rent with the bankruptcy clerk.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay
Subsidized Housing
Tenants in properties receiving direct federal subsidies, such as public housing authority units and project-based Section 8, are typically entitled to 30 days’ notice before eviction proceedings can start. That requirement is on top of Georgia’s state rules, so the landlord must satisfy both. It generally does not apply to Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher holders renting from private landlords who do not otherwise receive direct federal payments.
How Long It Takes and What It Costs
A best-case uncontested eviction in Georgia runs roughly two to three weeks: three business days for the pay-or-vacate notice in a nonpayment case, a few days for filing and service, seven days for the answer period, and seven more days after judgment before the writ can be executed. A contested case with a trial adds several more weeks depending on the court’s calendar.
On the landlord side, filing, service, and writ fees commonly run roughly $100 to $200 or more depending on the county, with attorney fees and lost rent making up the real financial exposure. On the tenant side, the costs are moving on short notice, damage to rental history, and a money judgment for unpaid rent that the landlord can pursue through separate collection.