Breaking a lease in Georgia

Georgia lets a tenant end a lease early in two situations, a service member with qualifying military orders and a tenant protected by a family violence or stalking order, and a separate section caps an active duty tenant's rent at 30 days' rent after written notice and proof of qualifying orders. The tenant gives written notice with proof and owes rent prorated to the termination date but no other rent or damages for ending early; a protected tenant also still owes rent and other sums already past due. Neither right can be waived or changed by the lease (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-22; O.C.G.A. § 44-7-23).

• A service member may end the lease on the date stated in a written notice that is at least 30 days after you receive it, if permanent change of station orders require a move of 35 miles or more, the service member is released from active duty and the home is 35 miles or more from the home of record, orders require a move into government quarters, staying would forfeit the housing allowance, temporary duty, temporary change of station or state active duty orders of more than 60 days send the service member 35 miles or more away, or, before move-in, orders change to an area 35 miles or more away (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-22(b); O.C.G.A. § 44-7-22(b)(2)).
• The notice must come with a copy of the orders or a written verification signed by the commanding officer. If a service member dies on active duty, an adult member of the immediate family may end the lease the same way, adding a copy of the death certificate (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-22(c), (d)).
• A tenant protected by a civil or criminal family violence order or a civil or criminal stalking order, protecting the tenant or the tenant's minor child, may end the lease effective 30 days after written notice, with a copy of the order and, for an ex parte temporary protective order, the police report (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-23(a) to (c)).
• The protected tenant may stay until the termination takes effect and owes prorated rent plus anything already owed, but no other fees, rent or damages for ending early. This right applies to leases entered into, renewed, modified or extended on or after July 1, 2021 (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-23(d); SB 75 (2021), section 2).
• Under either section, a tenant who terminates 14 or more days before occupancy owes no damages or penalties of any kind (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-22(e); O.C.G.A. § 44-7-23(d)).
• A tenant on active duty who leased the home for the tenant or the tenant's immediate family and later receives permanent change of station orders, or temporary duty orders for more than three months, owes no more than 30 days' rent after giving you written notice and proof of the assignment, plus the cost of repairing damage the tenant caused. The small-owner deposit exemption in section 44-7-36 lists sections 44-7-31, 44-7-32, 44-7-33 and 44-7-35; it does not list this military rent-cap section (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-37 (Ga. L. 1991, p. 360), General Assembly site; O.C.G.A. section 44-7-36, selected deposit review).
• The published DCA handbook describes three conditions for an early-termination fee: actual losses must be difficult to estimate, the parties must intend compensation rather than a penalty, and the amount must reasonably estimate those losses. A lease clause alone does not settle enforceability; the handbook says a judge may reject a fee that fails those conditions (Georgia DCA handbook, revised August 29, 2024, page 14).
• The family-violence and stalking termination provision also covers a protected joint tenant, or that tenant's minor child, even when the protected tenant has no obligation to pay rent. For a non-ex-parte civil protective order, the respondent must have been present or had notice of the hearing that produced the order (O.C.G.A. section 44-7-23(a)(1)-(2), (b), SB 75 (2021)).

No section read gives a tenant a right to repair and deduct or to withhold rent. A notice to repair, or a good-faith complaint to a code enforcement agency or public utility about a problem you must repair, that relates to a life, health, safety or habitability concern can support a tenant's prima-facie case of retaliation. Sections this page could not read may give other remedies (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-24(b)).

• Giving a notice to repair, or complaining to a building or housing code agency or a public utility about a problem you must repair, is protected action (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-24(b)(2), (3)).See Retaliation on the Georgia page

For a tenancy at will, the landlord must give 60 days' notice and the tenant must give 30 days' notice to terminate the tenancy (O.C.G.A. section 44-7-7, official Code access via General Assembly).

• When no time is specified for a tenancy to end, Georgia law treats it as a tenancy at will. Check the actual tenancy before applying the at-will notice periods (O.C.G.A. section 44-7-6, official Code access via General Assembly).

Within 30 days after you obtain possession of the home, return the full deposit. If you keep any part, send the tenant a written statement of the exact reasons, including the move-out damage list when the reason is damage, together with the balance. Mailing the statement and payment by first-class mail to the tenant's last known address complies. No part may be kept for ordinary wear and tear (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-34(a)).

• The 30 days run from your obtaining possession as the move-out inspection section describes: after the lease ends and the tenant vacates, or after surrender and acceptance, whichever comes first. No forwarding address is needed to start the clock (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-33(b); O.C.G.A. § 44-7-34(a)).
• You may keep deposit money for unpaid rent or late fees, abandonment of the home, unpaid utility charges, repair or cleaning the tenant contracted for with third parties, unpaid pet fees, or actual damages from the tenant's breach, provided you attempt to mitigate those damages (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-34(a)).
• If the mailed payment comes back undelivered and you cannot locate the tenant after reasonable effort, the payment becomes yours 90 days after the date it was mailed (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-34(a)).
• Failing to provide the lists and written statements within these time periods forfeits your right to keep any part of the deposit or to sue the tenant for damage to the home (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-35(b)).
• A landlord who fails to return deposit money that must be returned owes three times the amount improperly withheld plus reasonable attorney's fees, or only the amount withheld if the landlord proves the withholding was an unintentional bona fide error despite procedures reasonably designed to avoid such errors (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-35(c)).
• The statute lists three failures, joined by 'and', under which a landlord is not entitled to keep any part of the deposit: no escrow account or surety bond, no move-in damage list, and no final damage list (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-35(a)).
• Section 44-7-36's qualifying small-owner exemption includes the inspection/list and remedy sections 44-7-33 and 44-7-35; it does not list the return section 44-7-34. Check the ownership, family-unit total and paid-management conditions before applying an inspection forfeiture or treble-damages rule (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-36).
• Compare dated condition records, the resident's specific objections, the actual charge and the required notice before withholding money. A routine upgrade, new replacement invoice or automatic painting charge does not by itself establish a permitted deduction. Preserve the issued itemization, supporting records, mailing and returned-payment evidence. If ownership changes, reconcile the holder and transfer or refund records; the deposit must not disappear from the tenancy account (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-33; O.C.G.A. § 44-7-34).