Georgia landlord notices: the 3-business-day rule and what HB 404 changed

A guide from Forms for Landlords. Georgia figures below are taken from the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, Title 44, Chapter 7, and the Georgia Department of Community Affairs Landlord-Tenant Handbook (rev. 8-29-24).

Georgia landlords work under a notice system that changed in a material way on July 1, 2024, when HB 404 — the Safe at Home Act — took effect for leases entered into or renewed on or after that date. The biggest change is a written pre-filing notice for nonpayment that did not exist in this form before. This guide walks through the notices a Georgia landlord actually gives, the clocks attached to each, and the two tenant defenses that shape how the paperwork has to be handled.

Before you file for nonpayment: the 3-business-day notice

Under O.C.G.A. § 44-7-50(c), before filing a dispossessory affidavit for nonpayment of rent, the landlord must give the tenant written notice to vacate the premises or pay all past-due rent, late fees, utilities, and other charges within three business days. A case filed without this step, or filed before the three business days have run, starts out defective.

Two practical points. First, Chapter 7 does not define how the three business days are counted, so the cautious practice is to count conservatively — when in doubt, give more time, not less. Second, service is prescribed: under § 44-7-50(d), the notice is delivered by posting it in a sealed envelope conspicuously on the door of the property, plus any additional method the rental agreement itself provides. Record the date, the method, and who delivered it; if the notice is later challenged, that record is the proof.

The demand for possession is a different document

The demand for possession under § 44-7-50(a) still exists, but after HB 404 it no longer covers nonpayment — nonpayment sits entirely in subsection (c). Subsection (a) is the vehicle for holdover beyond the term and for tenancies at will or at sufferance: the owner (or an agent or attorney) demands possession, and filing follows a refusal or failure to deliver it. Subsection (a) sets no fixed waiting period of its own, which does not make it fast by default — the underlying tenancy must actually have ended first. For a tenancy at will, that means the termination notice below must have run its full course before a demand means anything.

Ending a tenancy at will: 60 days from the landlord, 30 from the tenant

O.C.G.A. § 44-7-7 states the rule in one sentence: “Sixty days' notice from the landlord or 30 days' notice from the tenant is necessary to terminate a tenancy at will.” The two periods are not interchangeable, and assuming they are equal is one of the common ways a termination fails. Failure to give the statutory notice is a defense to a dispossessory, and the burden of proof is on the landlord to show the notice was timely given — another reason the delivery record matters as much as the document.

A fixed-term lease is different: it ends on its own terms. But if the tenant holds over and the landlord accepts rent, a tenancy at will can arise — and then the 60-day rule applies to ending it. A rent increase for a tenant at will likewise requires 60 days' notice. Absent a lease term or a discrimination violation, a Georgia landlord need not state a reason to decline renewal.

The deposit clocks run on their own track

While a tenancy is ending, a second set of deadlines is running, and missing them is expensive:

Cap. No security deposit may exceed two months' rent — § 44-7-30.1 (leases entered into or renewed on or after July 1, 2024).
Holding. The deposit sits in a dedicated escrow account at a regulated bank or lending institution, and the tenant is told in writing where it is — §§ 44-7-31, 44-7-32. A narrow exemption (§ 44-7-36) covers some natural-person landlords with ten or fewer units; an LLC landlord gets no exemption, and the cap and the 30-day return duty bind every landlord.
Lists. A list of existing damage is presented before the tenant tenders the deposit — § 44-7-33(a). At move-out, the landlord inspects and lists damage within 3 business days after the tenancy ends and the unit is vacant; the tenant may inspect the premises and the list within 5 business days on request — § 44-7-33(b). The lists carry written notice of the tenant's duty to sign or to state disagreement specifically in writing — § 44-7-33(c).
Return. Within 30 days after obtaining possession, the landlord returns the deposit or sends a written statement of the exact reasons for retention, with the damage list, plus the balance, by first-class mail to the tenant's last known address. No amount may be retained for ordinary wear and tear. A payment that comes back undeliverable becomes the landlord's 90 days after mailing if the tenant cannot be located after reasonable effort — § 44-7-34(a).
Penalty exposure. Late lists or statements cost the landlord the right to withhold or to sue for damage to the premises, and improper withholding carries liability for three times the sum withheld plus reasonable attorney's fees, subject to a bona fide error defense — § 44-7-35.

Two defenses to plan around

Tender. Even after a nonpayment case is filed, the tenant can defeat it by tendering all rent allegedly owed plus the cost of the warrant within 7 days after service of the summons. The defense is available once in any 12-month period — § 44-7-52.

Retaliation. Adverse action within three months of a tenant's protected activity — a complaint to a government agency, for example — is presumed retaliatory under § 44-7-24, with a remedy of one month's rent plus $500, costs, and possible attorney's fees. Timing is evidence: a landlord who documents a genuine, pre-existing reason for acting, and who keeps notices and complaints on separate tracks, is in a far better position than one who reacts.

And the standing rule underneath all of it: possession is recovered only through the court dispossessory process. Georgia law prohibits forcing a tenant out by lockout or utility interruption — § 44-7-14.1, as stated in the DCA Handbook.

A note on currency: the Code flags a further revision of § 44-7-50 effective January 1, 2027. Verify the current text before acting, and have a Georgia landlord-tenant attorney review any completed notice before you rely on it. This guide is general information about Georgia's published rules — it is not legal advice, and Forms for Landlords is not a law firm.

The forms, with Georgia's numbers built in

The Georgia Landlord Forms Pack is our state-specific edition: the pay-or-vacate notice built on § 44-7-50(c), the demand for possession, the termination/nonrenewal notice with the 60-day period built in, the deposit transmittal and itemized statement built around Georgia's inspection-list requirement, and a one-page Georgia quick-reference with the statute cited for every figure. Built from Georgia statutes as of October 2026; templates, not legal advice, and not reviewed by a Georgia attorney.

$89 See the Georgia Pack