Georgia squatter laws changed sharply in April 2024. Under the Georgia Squatter Reform Act, a property owner who finds someone occupying their property without permission can file a sworn affidavit with the local sheriff and, if the occupant does not swear to a legal right to be there within three days, have the sheriff physically remove them.1LegiScan. Georgia House Bill 1017 – Georgia Squatter Reform Act The state still recognizes long-occupation claims through adverse possession, but for most owners dealing with an unauthorized occupant today, the affidavit process is the tool that matters.
The Three-Day Affidavit Process
Removal starts with a written, sworn statement from the property owner, their agent, or their attorney. The affidavit has to say three things: that the owner claims possession of the property in good faith, that a named person is occupying it without a good-faith claim to possession, and that the occupant refuses to leave.2Georgia Governor’s Office. House Bill 1017 – Georgia Squatter Reform Act It has to be notarized. Then it goes to the sheriff’s office for the county where the property sits.
A deputy presents the affidavit to the occupant at the earliest opportunity. From that moment, the occupant has at least three days. During that window, the only way to stop the removal is to hand the sheriff a counteraffidavit sworn under oath stating a good-faith legal right to be on the property.2Georgia Governor’s Office. House Bill 1017 – Georgia Squatter Reform Act No counteraffidavit inside three days, and the sheriff removes them.
If a counteraffidavit does come in, the case moves to magistrate court for a hearing. A judge weighs whether the occupant genuinely has any legal right to stay. When the judge finds no merit, the court issues a writ of possession and law enforcement executes it. Counties charge a service fee for executing the writ, typically around $25.
This is the piece of Georgia squatter law that used to be missing. Before the Reform Act, an owner had to file a dispossessory action and go through the same court process used for a nonpaying tenant, and a squatter waving a forged lease could stall for months. Officers can now demand proof of residency from anyone on the property without permission, and someone who can’t produce a valid lease or evidence of rental payments faces arrest.
What to Bring to the Sheriff and the Court
The notarized affidavit is the centerpiece, but a clean case needs more than that. Pull your recorded warranty deed or other title document and check the legal description against the address on your affidavit. Errors on the affidavit slow things down.
Then gather what shows the occupant has no business being there:
- Photographs of broken locks, forced windows, or other signs of unauthorized entry.
- Timestamped surveillance footage of the occupant entering or living in the property.
- A written log of any interactions with the occupant, including dates and what was said, plus copies of any notice you gave telling them to leave.
- Statements from neighbors who saw the occupant move in or who knew the property was vacant.
Most Georgia magistrate courts keep standardized affidavit forms at the clerk’s office or on the county website. Filing fees for a dispossessory action generally run between $53 and $61 depending on the county.
Criminal Penalties a Squatter Faces
Entering or staying on someone else’s property without permission and without a lawful purpose is criminal trespass in Georgia, and so is refusing to leave after the owner or their representative tells you to go.3Justia Law. Georgia Code 16-7-21 – Criminal Trespass Criminal trespass is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to 12 months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.4Justia Law. Georgia Code 17-10-3 – Punishment for Misdemeanors
A squatter who tries to fake their way through with a forged lease faces something far heavier. Knowingly creating or presenting a fake lease to claim a right to someone else’s property can be prosecuted as forgery in the first degree, a felony.5Justia Law. Georgia Code 16-9-1 – Forgery The Reform Act’s push to verify leases through digital records or direct contact with the owner is what gives that felony risk real bite.
Squatter or Holdover Tenant?
Before you file, be honest about which situation you actually have. A squatter never had permission to be there. A holdover tenant once had a valid lease that has since expired but hasn’t moved out. The Reform Act’s fast criminal trespass path is built for the first situation, not the second.
Holdover tenants generally have to be removed through the traditional dispossessory process. That starts with a formal demand for possession under the landlord-tenant statutes.6Justia Law. Georgia Code 44-7-50 – Demand for Possession If the tenant refuses, the owner files an affidavit with the court and a summons is issued requiring an answer within seven days.7Justia Law. Georgia Code 44-7-51 – Issuance of Summons; Service Ask yourself one question: did this person ever have my permission to live here? If yes, even if that permission ended long ago, treat them as a holdover tenant. If no, use the Reform Act.
Don’t Change the Locks or Cut the Power
Self-help removal is the most common owner mistake, and in Georgia it’s illegal. A landlord who knowingly suspends utilities (cooling, heat, light, or water) before the final outcome of a dispossessory proceeding can be fined up to $500 upon conviction.8Justia Law. Georgia Code 44-7-14.1 – Landlord’s Duties as to Utilities The fine is small. The bigger problem is that a self-help move hands the occupant a counterclaim: wrongful removal, damages, and weeks of delay. The three-day affidavit process is almost always faster than the aftermath of cutting the water.
What Happens to the Occupant’s Belongings
Once the sheriff has executed a writ of possession, the occupant’s personal property can be removed from the premises and placed on a portion of the owner’s property or another location approved by the executing officer.9Justia Law. Georgia Code 44-7-55 – Judgment; Writ of Possession; Personal Property At that point the belongings are legally considered abandoned. The statute is explicit that the owner is not a caretaker and owes no duty to the former occupant regarding those items. Before the writ is executed, though, you can’t move their things yourself. The protection only kicks in after law enforcement carries out the court’s order.
Adverse Possession: When Long Occupation Becomes a Claim
Separate from criminal trespass, Georgia still allows someone who has occupied land long enough to claim legal title through adverse possession. Succeeding is rare because courts scrutinize every element, and one gap in the evidence can end the case.
The 20-Year Rule
The default path requires 20 years of continuous occupation meeting all statutory requirements.10Justia Law. Georgia Code 44-5-163 – When Adverse Possession for 20 Years Confers Title The possession must be in the possessor’s own right, must not originate in fraud, and must be public, continuous, exclusive, uninterrupted, and peaceable, with a claim of right the entire time.11Justia Law. Georgia Code 44-5-161 – Adverse Possession
Permissive use doesn’t count. If the owner ever gave the occupant permission to be on the land, that permission blocks an adverse possession claim unless the occupant openly asserts an adverse claim and gives the owner actual notice.11Justia Law. Georgia Code 44-5-161 – Adverse Possession A handshake arrangement to use a neighbor’s unused field, no matter how many decades it runs, never ripens into ownership on its own.
The 7-Year Shortcut
If the occupant holds the property under written evidence of title (a deed or similar document that looks valid but is legally defective), the required period drops from 20 years to seven. All the other requirements still apply. If the written title is forged or fraudulent and the person claiming adverse possession knew about it when they moved in, the seven-year shortcut is unavailable.12Justia Law. Georgia Code 44-5-164 – When Adverse Possession for Seven Years Confers Title
What Counts as Actual Possession
Claiming you possessed land for 20 years is not enough. Georgia requires evidence of actual possession: enclosing the land, cultivating it, or otherwise using it in a way that would be obvious to anyone with a competing claim and exclusive enough that no one else could occupy the same space.13Justia Law. Georgia Code 44-5-165 – How Actual Possession of Lands Evidenced Mowing occasionally probably doesn’t clear the bar. Fencing the property, keeping a garden, or building an outbuilding almost certainly does. Georgia doesn’t require the occupant to have paid property taxes during the period, but courts commonly treat consistent tax payments as strong supporting evidence.
Two Boundaries Worth Knowing
Neither the 20-year nor the 7-year path can be used to take title from the state.10Justia Law. Georgia Code 44-5-163 – When Adverse Possession for 20 Years Confers Title And if the true owner was a minor or legally incapacitated when the occupation began, the clock is paused until that disability is removed.14Justia Law. Georgia Code 9-3-90 – Individuals Under Disability or Imprisoned When Cause of Action Accrues
For owners, the practical lesson is to act early. Every year of unchallenged occupation moves the clock closer to a viable claim. A written notice, a call to the sheriff, or a trespass complaint each interrupts the “continuous and uninterrupted” element the doctrine depends on.