Georgia’s Safe at Home Act (House Bill 404) is the state’s first statutory package of residential tenant protections. Signed on April 22, 2024, and effective July 1, 2024, it creates an implied warranty of habitability, caps security deposits at two months’ rent, requires a three-day notice-and-cure period before a landlord can file for eviction, bars utility shutoffs during eviction proceedings, and protects tenants from retaliation when they assert their rights. It applies to any residential lease signed or renewed on or after July 1, 2024.
The Implied Warranty of Habitability
Before the Act, Georgia was one of the few states with no statutory guarantee that a rental had to be livable. The law now writes into every residential lease, written or verbal, a promise that the property is fit for human habitation.1Justia. Georgia Code 44-7-13 – Landlord’s Duties as to Repairs and Improvements The warranty is automatic. A landlord cannot draft it out of the lease, and a tenant cannot sign it away.
In practice, the landlord must deliver and maintain a unit that meets basic health and safety standards. Structural problems, plumbing failures, and lack of running water or heat are the kinds of conditions that can breach the warranty. The duty to repair runs through the entire tenancy, not just move-in.1Justia. Georgia Code 44-7-13 – Landlord’s Duties as to Repairs and Improvements
What to Do When Your Landlord Ignores Repairs
Every remedy under Georgia law starts the same way: put your repair request in writing and keep a copy. Without written proof that the landlord knew about the problem, everything downstream gets harder.2Georgia Governor’s Office of Consumer Protection. Georgia Landlord Tenant Handbook
If a reasonable time passes after your written notice and the landlord still hasn’t acted, you have four options:
- Repair and deduct. Hire a licensed professional, fix the problem, and subtract the cost from next month’s rent. Send the landlord a written notice first that you plan to use this remedy. Keep the receipts and a written statement from the contractor describing the work. Spend only what’s reasonable, and don’t use this option for common areas.
- Sue the landlord for damages caused by the failure to repair. If the landlord has already filed for eviction, you can raise the repair failure as a counterclaim in that case.
- Call a housing code inspector. Where local building or housing codes apply, an enforcement complaint can push the landlord to act. If the property is condemned and residential use is prohibited, you can treat the lease as broken and leave.
- Move out under constructive eviction. When the unit has deteriorated to the point that it’s unfit to live in, ordinary repairs can’t fix it, and you actually vacate, a court may treat the situation as a constructive eviction and relieve you of future rent.
One trap catches tenants regularly: even while you’re waiting for repairs, you generally have to keep paying rent. Withholding rent outside of these procedures gives the landlord grounds to file for eviction.2Georgia Governor’s Office of Consumer Protection. Georgia Landlord Tenant Handbook
Security Deposit Cap
Georgia previously had no statutory limit on security deposits. The Act caps residential security deposits at two months’ rent. If your rent is $1,500 a month, the landlord cannot collect more than $3,000 up front. The cap applies to leases signed or renewed on or after July 1, 2024.
Three-Day Right to Cure Before Eviction
The Act creates a short grace period for tenants who fall behind on rent. Before filing a dispossessory action (Georgia’s term for a formal eviction), a landlord must give the tenant notice and three days to pay. The window is narrow, but it prevents the scenario where a tenant is one day late and immediately staring at court papers. The rule applies to all residential leases covered by the Act.
No Utility Shutoffs During Eviction
The Act added cooling to Georgia’s list of protected utilities, joining heat, light, and water. That matters in a state where summer temperatures regularly top 95°F. A landlord cannot shut off any of these utilities to a tenant until an eviction case reaches its final resolution, and the protection continues through any appeals. A landlord who violates this rule faces a civil fine of up to $500 per violation.
Retaliation Protections
If you assert your rights under the Act, the landlord cannot punish you for it. Requesting repairs in writing, reporting a code violation to a government agency, or joining a tenant organization focused on habitability all count as protected actions.3Justia. Georgia Code 44-7-24 – Establishment of a Prima-Facie Case of Retaliation
When a landlord files for eviction, cuts services, raises rent, or terminates the lease within three months of your protected action, the law presumes retaliation. You only have to show two things: you took a protected action, and the landlord responded with one of the prohibited actions inside that three-month window.3Justia. Georgia Code 44-7-24 – Establishment of a Prima-Facie Case of Retaliation The burden then shifts to the landlord to prove the action had a legitimate, unrelated reason.
Early Lease Termination for Domestic Violence Survivors
Tenants who are victims of domestic violence, family violence, or stalking can break a lease with 30 days’ written notice. The notice has to include a copy of a civil or criminal protective order covering the tenant or a minor child.4Justia. Georgia Code 44-7-23 – Termination of Residential Lease Agreement by Victim of Family Violence or Stalking If the order is an ex parte temporary protective order, a copy of the police report must go with it.
Once the 30-day notice period ends, rent is owed only through the termination date, prorated. The landlord cannot charge early termination fees, penalties, or extra rent after that. If the tenant gives notice at least 14 days before a planned move-in on a new lease they haven’t yet occupied, no damages or penalties can be assessed at all.4Justia. Georgia Code 44-7-23 – Termination of Residential Lease Agreement by Victim of Family Violence or Stalking This right cannot be waived in a lease under any circumstances.
Which Leases the Act Covers
The Safe at Home Act applies to residential leases signed or renewed on or after July 1, 2024. If your current lease predates that and hasn’t been renewed since, the statutory habitability warranty, deposit cap, cure period, and other protections in the Act may not reach it until renewal. Check the date on your lease before relying on any of these provisions.