Georgia Landlord Notice To Vacate
GeorgiaLandlord Notice to Vacatecan be used when landlords, property managers, and Georgia property management companies want to inform tenants they must vacate the property and remove all of their possessions by a certain date. Most states require at least a 30 Day Notice to Vacate for monthly leases, and depending on the circumstance, the Georgia Notice to Vacate may be given in the form of a 30 Day Notice to Vacate, 60 Day Notice to Vacate, or a 90 Day Notice to Vacate.
Court Holds Hearing & Issues Judgment
Georgia law doesnt specify how soon an eviction hearing must be held after an affidavit is filed with the court or after a tenants response is received by the court. It will depend on how busy the trial courts hearing schedule is.
If the tenant does not appear for the hearing, or does not respond to the complaint, the court will issue a default judgment in favor of the landlord and the tenant will be required to move out.
If the judicial officer rules in favor of the landlord at the eviction hearing, a writ of possession will be issued, and the eviction will proceed.
Tenants have 7 days to appeal the judgment in order to avoid eviction.
A few days to a few weeks, depending on the courts schedule and whether the ruling is appealed.
Georgia Notice To Quit For Curable Non
Landlords are not required by landlord-tenant law to give any notice to tenants before evicting them for non-compliance with the lease. However, landlords are generally encouraged to inform tenants of an issue of non-compliance so that it may be corrected and the property may continue to be occupied. Unless the violation is serious, the landlord may want to consider the long-term cost associated with vacant property.
You May Like: The Moorings Power Yacht Vacations
Failure To Pay Rent On Time
Rent is usually considered late a day past its due date. If the lease/rental agreement allows a grace period, then that will be followed.
Before a landlord can start the eviction process, they must give the tenant either a written or verbal notice to pay the rent.
Unlike most states which implement a specific number of days before a landlord can proceed with an eviction after notice, Georgia leaves this responsibility to the landlords.
See: GA Code § 44-7-50
It is recommended to include this notice in the lease to avoid tenant retaliation.
If the tenant pays the rent within the notice period, then the eviction process does not continue. If the tenant is unable to pay, then the landlord may proceed with the eviction process.
Evidence To Show For Lease Violations
If you are evicting the tenant for lease violations, for example, noise complaints, unauthorized pets, or property damages, itâs important to show proof from any of the following methods:
- Security Cameras – If you have a surveillance system that can show them committing the crime or lease violation, itâs safe to say you will normally win this dispute.
- Video – If you didnât catch them in the act, the next best thing is to record a video with your phone of any damages or the lease violation.
- Pictures – They say a picture is worth a thousand words. In this case, a picture could be worth thousands of dollars! Even if you take a video, itâs important to show the Judge any pictures too as itâs usually easier to see by email or printed.
- Lease Terms – Once again, show the court which term they violated in their lease agreement. Donât worry if you donât have every single term spelled out in your rental agreement. If the violation is bad enough, it might not be needed to have it written. As a good practice though, start adding all of the potential reasons to evict a tenant into your agreement.
Recommended Reading: Southern Vacation Rentals Perdido Key
Violation Of The Lease/rental Agreement
The rental lease agreement has to be upheld by both tenant and landlord for the entire duration of the tenantâs stay. Agreements may vary from tenant to tenant.
If a tenant violates any terms from the lease agreement, the landlord is not required to let the tenant correct the violation.
They may proceed with the eviction process after giving the client either a verbal or written notice that they have violated the lease/rental agreement terms and must vacate the property.
Lease violations may include:
- Theft, violence, assault
There is no official notice period landlords must follow. It is solely up to them or to the terms of the lease/rental agreement .
If the tenants remain on the property after the notice period ends, then the landlord may continue with the eviction.
Georgia Eviction Process Timeline
In Georgia, an eviction can be completed in 1 to 3 months but can take longer depending on the reason for eviction, whether the eviction is contested, which days courts are in session and other various possible delays.
Below are the parts of the Georgia eviction process outside the control of landlords for cases that go uncontested.
| Step |
|---|
You May Like: Vacation Home Rentals In Yosemite National Park
Receiving A Notice To Vacate From The Landlord
A notice to vacate can also refer to a letter sent from the landlord to the tenant. This notice is used to notify the tenant that the landlord is terminating their tenancy. A landlord may send a notice to vacate before the end of a lease with a set end date if they dont wish to renew the lease. It can also be sent to terminate month-to-month or week-to-week leases. Lastly, a landlord may send a notice to vacate if the lease has already ended but the tenant hasnt left the property.
A notice to vacate from the landlord is not the same thing as an eviction notice. An eviction notice is a court order and it will appear on the tenants credit report, which is not the case with a notice to vacate.
A notice to vacate from your landlord is not the same thing as an eviction. Evictions are court ordered and usually come after a landlords notice to vacate.
What If I Plan To Move Out But Cant Do It In Time
If you are planning to move but cannot do that before the landlord can get a Writ of Possession from the Court, talk to the landlord or the landlords attorney about agreeing to extra time to move. The landlord does not have to agree to this. Remember that you already have 7 days after the court hearing before a Writ of Possession can issue. So if you settle, you should get more than 7 days after the court date.
Once you have agreed to a date, make sure you go to court and then tell the judge what your agreement is. Usually in this kind of agreement the landlord can get the writ from the Court and have the sheriffs department serve it on a specific date. The the landlord can ask the police to enforce the writ 48 hours later. It will be too late to change your mind after the judge has approved the agreement, so make sure you understand what you are agreeing to.
If you come to an agreement before the court date then you can use this Agreed Judgment form to protect your rights, and to let the judge know about your agreement. This is an interactive form you can fill it out online, then print. Or print and then fill out by hand.
Don’t Miss: Napa Valley Vacation Home Rentals
How To Serve A Tenant
An official from the court delivers the Summons and Affidavit to the tenant. The sheriff is usually assigned this task.
There are several methods to accomplish this:
- Personal Service: The court official delivers the Summons and Affidavit to the tenant in person
- Substituted Service: If the tenant is unavailable, an adult living with the tenant may receive the Summons and Affidavit. If none of these methods are possible, the court official turns to the following method:
- Posting and Mailing: The server mails the documents via first-class mail. When using this method, the court official leaves a copy of the documents for the tenant. It is placed in a secure and visible position by the entrance of the tenantâs rented property.
Landlords are not allowed to serve the tenant themselves or task someone else with the job. Only the Sheriff is permitted to complete this step of the eviction process.
Laws About Property Maintenance And Repairs
- The landlord is responsible for maintaining the building structure and keeping operational systems such as the electric, heating, and plumbing.
- The landlord is also responsible for repairing any appliances including heating and air conditioning included in the rental unit.
- A landlord is further responsible for meeting all local ordinances and minimum safety standards.
- The tenant should not be charged for repairs caused by ordinary wear and tear.
- Before a landlord can be required to make a repair, he must be given notice of the defect. The tenant should give the landlord written dated notice of the problem needing repair.
- If the tenant was aware of a defect at the time the lease was signed, the tenant waived the right to require the landlord to make the repair.
Rent Withholding: The tenant cannot stop paying rent even if the landlord fails to make repairs.
Repair and Deduct: Georgia courts have held that when a landlord fails to respond to repair requests after a reasonable time, the tenant can have the required repair performed by a competent repair person at a reasonable cost and deduct the cost from future rent.
Don’t Miss: Evolve Vacation Rental Hot Springs Ar
If I Want To Fight The Eviction What Do I Do
You have tried to work things out with your landlord but they are going forward with the eviction case. You are served with court papers for evictiona summons and a Forcible Entry and Detainer Complaint. The Summons tells you the court date and time. You want to fight the eviction and stay in your rental.
Contact a private lawyer or Pine Tree Legal Assistance immediately.
Usually the notice of a court date gives you only a short time to prepare . If you can find a lawyer quickly enough, provide this information to your lawyer as soon as possible:
- your eviction notice
- your lease or rental agreement
- rent receipts or other evidence of payment
- Summons and Complaint.
What Is The Eviction Process In Georgia
Step 1: Serve the eviction notice
After receiving the eviction notice, a tenant can pay rent and any additional charges up to seven days after receiving the eviction lawsuit papers or move out. If the tenant neither pays nor moves out, the eviction process can be moved through the court system as follows:
Step 2: File the relevant documents with the court
The landlord files a dispossessory affidavit or dispossessory warrant with the court. These documents include the full names of the parties, the reason for eviction, declaration that the landlord demanded possession of the property but was denied and the amount of overdue rent.
Step 3: Await the courts judgment
If the court decides in the landlords favor, the judge will issue and sign a summons to be served on the tenant. The sheriff personally serves the summons on the renter, leaves it with someone at the tenants residence, or posts it on the property and then mails the tenant a copy by certified mail .
Step 4: Wait for the tenant to respond
The renter has seven days to file a dispossessory answer to the summons in court or on their own. If the tenant timely answers, the court sets a hearing date within 10 days. If the tenant doesnt answer, the landlord files a default and asks for a writ of possession.
Step 5: Allow the sheriff to serve the writ
The sheriff serves the writ of possession on the tenant, who has 24 hours to move out. If the tenant refuses to move out, the court schedules a hearing.
Also Check: Vacation Rentals In Santa Cruz
Laws About Security Deposits
Max Security Deposit Amount: No State Law. There is no limit to the amount of a security deposit a landlord may charge.
Additional Move-In Fees: Pet deposits, application fees and other fees, including non-refundable fees, are allowed in Georgia. However, no portion of the security deposit can be designated as non-refundable for any reason. Landlords who wish to retain a portion of the deposit for cleaning up after pets will instead need to charge a separate non-refundable pet deposit.
Security Deposit Refund Timeline: 30 days after vacancy to the last known address via first class mail.
Move-In Inspection: Before issuing a security deposit, the tenant must receive a detailed list of any existing damage to the property. The tenant also has the right to inspect the premises to determine the accuracy of the list of damages. The move-in inspection paperwork must be signed by both tenant and landlord.
Move-Out Inspection: A landlord must conduct a move-out inspection within 3 days after a tenant moves out to create a list of property damage and an estimated cost to repair the damage, that the landlord can use the security deposit. The tenant then has 5 days after moving out to inspect the property and agree to the landlords list of damages.
Exemptions: If a landlord owns 10 or fewer properties, different laws apply to him regarding escrow accounts, move-in/move-out inspection paperwork, and failure to comply, unless the properties are under property management.
Eviction By Court Judgment
The court papers will tell you the date and time of your eviction hearing. If you want to fight the eviction you must go to court. In court you may ask your landlord questions, bring your own witnesses and exhibits , and explain your side of the story. Make sure you bring any court papers you have, as well as your lease or rental agreement, if you have one.
Your landlord can go to court to try to evict you even if you think your landlord is wrong. You can be evicted even if it is winter or even if you have a disability, or if you have children or you have nowhere to go. It is up to the court, not your landlord or Pine Tree Legal, to decide if you can be evicted.
If you go to court and lose, you have the right to appeal. If you lose and do not appeal, after seven days you will be served with a Writ of Possession by the Deputy Sheriff. This is the eviction order of the court. You then have 48 hours to move out.
Recommended Reading: Nc Outer Banks Vacation Rentals
Tenant Notice To Vacate Requirements
Today wed like to discuss the beginning of the move-out process. The very first step in move-out is the notice to vacate. Here, our discussion depends upon our GTL standard lease terms. If you signed a lease with our company, whether during an initial move-in or a renewal, this article is for you. If we took over your property, it is possible we are still on your original lease, which we will transition to our GTL standard lease at time of renewal. If you are on a non-GTL lease, it is important to review your specific lease carefully to understand how your terms may differ from our standard terms.
Whats the timeline for giving my notice to vacate?Fixed Term LeasesIn both Florida and Georgia, the requirement is that you must give 60-day notice prior to lease expiration. Specifically, it must be two full calendar months. You cannot give 60-day notice in the middle of a month for a lease that ends 60 days later in the middle of another month. It must be two full calendar months.
For example, If your lease ends December 31, you must give your notice prior to November 1 If your lease ends January 5, you must also give your notice prior to November 1
We must have two full months of your notice to vacate in order to comply with your lease.
Month-to-Month LeasesIf your lease is on a month to month status, the requirements for notice are different whether you are in Florida or Georgia.
Tenant Responses To Notification
A renter can choose to contest an eviction on a number of grounds so landlords should take pains to limit their legal exposure. Evictions on the basis of non-payment can be countered with a charge of inadequate maintenance or some form of discrimination. Property managers should be prepared to document their activities regarding any and all lease obligations. Tenants should also know their rights.
That said, a Georgia landlord must receive an explicit refusal to vacate by the tenant, orally or in writing, before initiating dispossession proceedings with the county magistrate court. Once the necessary affidavits are filed by the owner, the resident has seven calendar days to answer the court summons. At the scheduled hearing, the tenant can opt to challenge the action.
If the lessor chooses not to appear, the court would ordinarily rule in favor of the landlord. Following this decision, the county sheriff’s department is charged with removing the resident from the premises.
References
Read Also: Vacation Bible School Registration Software
Does A Property Owner Have To Write An Eviction Notice In Georgia
In order to remove a tenant from a Georgia rental property, it can be helpful to serve them a Notice of Eviction as a first step. Even if it isn’t always mandated by law, this document can help you avoid going to court Some of the reasons why you might want one are:
In addition to these examples, a renter generally may be evicted by a landlord due to reasons unrelated to their personal conduct. For instance, when the owner plans to move back in. Keep in mind that the list shown above isn’t exhaustive and the permitted reasons for tenant eviction may be different. If you have any concerns with regard to Georgia eviction laws, talk to an attorney.