How to become a landlord in Georgia

Prepare the home, budget and paperwork before move-in. Check the requirements for the address, use clear rental terms, and put a reliable payment and repair process in place. Review the detailed topics in this guide before relying on a short startup checklist (Georgia DCA: landlord-tenant handbook).

• Compare similar rentals by location, size, condition and included utilities. List the property’s taxes, insurance, maintenance, utilities you pay, turnover costs and potential vacancy before choosing an asking rent. Keep a repair reserve and update the budget with actual bills. Check local licensing, zoning and inspection requirements for the address (Georgia DCA: landlord-tenant handbook).
• Finish repairs and document the starting condition. Before collecting a deposit, review whether the move-in damage-list and escrow or bond procedures apply, including the qualifying small-owner exemption and paid-management exception. Use the detailed deposit topics for timing, documents and dispute procedures; do not assume that one rule covers every owner (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-33(a); O.C.G.A. § 44-7-13).See Move-in and move-out damage lists on the Georgia page
• Prepare consistent lawful criteria and review the fair-housing and screening guidance before advertising or ordering reports. Write the lease so the parties, property, dates, rent, utilities, deposits, payment methods and notice contacts are clear. Include the applicable disclosures and agree on the circumstances and notice arrangements for entry. Retain signed documents and delivery records (Georgia DCA: landlord-tenant handbook).See Required disclosures on the Georgia page
• Give the resident a clear way to report routine repairs and urgent problems. Keep the rent ledger, receipts, condition records, notices, communications and repair history organized with appropriate access limits. Calendar lease events and notice deadlines from the relevant guide topics. A management system can organize tasks; it does not make decisions or complete repairs for you (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-13).See Repairs and habitability on the Georgia page

The sections read require three written items: where the deposit escrow account is, a move-in damage list before a deposit is paid, and a flood notice when flooding has damaged the living space at least three times in the five years before the lease. The section on disclosing the owner and manager (44-7-3) could not be read, and federal rules for older homes were not reviewed (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-31; O.C.G.A. § 44-7-33(a); O.C.G.A. § 44-7-20).

• Tell the tenant in writing where the deposit escrow account is (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-31).See Where the deposit is held, and interest on the Georgia page
• Give the move-in damage list before the tenant pays the deposit (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-33(a)).See Move-in and move-out damage lists on the Georgia page
• Give the written flood notice before the lease is signed when the flooding trigger is met (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-20).See Flood disclosure on the Georgia page

The section on disclosing the owner and manager (44-7-3) could not be read, so this page does not state its terms.

Before entering a written lease, tell the prospective tenant in writing about the property's propensity to flood if flooding has damaged any part of the living space covered by the lease (or attachments the tenant's household uses exclusively) at least three times in the five years before the lease date. If you fail to give a required notice, you are liable to the tenant and resident family for flood damage to their personal property during the lease (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-20).

• Flooding means water covering part of the living space because a river, stream, drainage ditch or other established water source rose, or because heavy or excessive rain ponded at or near where it fell (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-20).
• The rule applies to leases entered into on or after July 1, 1995 (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-20).

Georgia's fire and building codes were not read for this page.

No section read sets lock or rekeying rules. The full Georgia Code could not be read.

You may not demand or receive a security deposit larger than two months' rent. A security deposit includes damage deposits, advance rent deposits and pet deposits, so a pet deposit counts toward the two months (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-30.1).

• The two-month limit came from a 2024 Act that applies to residential leases entered into or renewed on or after July 1, 2024 (HB 404 (2024), section 6).
• Nonrefundable fees, and money that is not to be returned or that is to be applied to rent or to pay for services or utilities, are not a security deposit (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-30(1), (3)).
• Section 44-7-36 excludes only sections 44-7-31, 32, 33 and 35 for units owned by a natural person whose units, together with a spouse's and minor children's units, total ten or fewer. Paid third-party management, including rent collection, removes that exemption. The exemption does not list the two-month cap in 44-7-30.1 or the return provision in 44-7-34 (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-36).
• For a property inside Atlanta, section 94-152(a) applies on a tenant request when the landlord owns or controls more than ten units and requires a deposit greater than 60 percent of monthly rent. It requires offering one of two alternatives: qualifying rental security insurance or at least three equal monthly deposit installments. Insurance must meet the carrier, approval, coverage and payment conditions; the tenant cannot simply choose an unapproved policy. Installments ordinarily fall on the rent due date and may be paid with rent unless separately agreed (Atlanta Code § 94-152(a)).
• Atlanta subsection (b) separately calls for written notice of available alternatives before entering a lease requiring a deposit above 60 percent of monthly rent. Check subsection (c)'s exception for a deposit securing availability more than 60 days before the rental period begins. These city provisions do not replace the state cap or refund rules (Atlanta Code § 94-152(b)-(d)).

Where the statutory exemption does not apply, place a deposit held by you or your agent in an escrow account used only for deposits at a bank or lending institution regulated by Georgia or a federal agency, and tell the tenant in writing where it is. Section 44-7-32 provides a surety-bond alternative. The qualifying small-owner exemption in section 44-7-36 removes the named escrow/bond requirements; check paid third-party management and the family-unit total. No deposit section reviewed imposes an interest-payment rule (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-31; O.C.G.A. § 44-7-32; O.C.G.A. § 44-7-36).

• A deposit not placed in escrow (or covered by a surety bond) is one of the failures listed in the section on losing the right to keep the deposit (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-35(a)(1)).See Returning the deposit on the Georgia page
• The bond alternative requires an effective bond maintained with the superior-court clerk in the property's county. Its amount is the total deposits held or $50,000, whichever is less, with the landlord as principal and an authorized, licensed surety. It secures statutory return duties and return on bankruptcy or foreclosure. A surety withdrawal requires 30 days' written notice under the specified methods and does not release existing liability. Check separate professional-broker trust-account obligations before choosing an alternative (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-32).

For units covered by section 44-7-33, give the tenant a comprehensive existing-damage list before the deposit is tendered, for permanent retention, and allow inspection before occupancy. Both parties sign; the list is conclusive as to accuracy except latent defects. A tenant refusing to sign must specifically identify disputed items in a signed written dissent. Check section 44-7-36's qualifying small-owner exemption and its paid-management exception before treating this procedure as universal (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-33(a); O.C.G.A. § 44-7-36).

• Within three business days after the lease ends and the tenant vacates, or after surrender and acceptance, whichever comes first, inspect the home and compile a comprehensive list of any damage you will charge against the deposit, with its estimated dollar value. On request the tenant may inspect the home and the list within five business days after that event and your inspection (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-33(b)(1)).
• If the tenant leaves without telling you, inspect and compile the list within a reasonable time after discovering the home has been vacated, and sign it (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-33(b)(2)).
• A tenant who was present for your move-out inspection and signs your final list, or fails to dissent specifically in writing, cannot recover the deposit or other damages over it, but only if your lists contain written notice of the tenant's duty to sign or to dissent. A tenant who was not present and did not ask for a copy may still dispute the charges (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-33(c)).
• A tenant who disputes the final list may sue for the part of the deposit wrongly withheld, limited to the items the tenant specifically dissented from (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-33(c)).

The selected GBI and state guidance below covers criminal-record access, restriction and correction. It does not establish a limit on rental application or screening fees; that fee question remains unverified through this review (GBI: obtaining criminal-history information).

• Use the authorization process for the record source and product you actually request. GBI describes a signed consent on the prescribed form for a private person or business requesting another person's Georgia criminal-history record. Its separate public felony-conviction route has a different scope. Neither route establishes that every screening product has the same coverage or removes the separate permissible-purpose, certification and notice duties for consumer reports (GBI: private criminal-history requests; FTC: landlord consumer reports).
• Record restriction limits public access to specified criminal-history information; it does not permanently delete the entire record. The state's June 2026 guide describes qualifying cases, including some closed without conviction and certain misdemeanors. Check the actual disposition and restriction status rather than assuming every old conviction remains publicly reportable or every record can be restricted. The guide directs pre-July 1, 2013 arrest requests through the arresting agency and later arrests to the prosecutor. Eligibility for an individual record was not reviewed here (Georgia.gov: record restriction guide).
• Keep a record error, a mistaken identity and an application for restriction distinct. GBI says a missing or inaccurate record needs appropriate documentation or authorization from the submitting agency; identity challenges use its comparison process. Direct the applicant to the official agency and reporting-company correction channels and pause reliance on the disputed item while it is checked. Editing an application does not correct the underlying criminal-history or consumer report (GBI: corrections and identity challenges).