Georgia tenant screening laws

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).

Georgia DCA’s fair housing guidance identifies disability, race, sex, color, national origin, religion and familial status as protected grounds. It prohibits different housing terms or privileges on those grounds, along with discriminatory advertising, denial and interference. Review rent changes against those protections. The full state statute, federal Act and all coverage exemptions have not been independently read for this page (Georgia DCA: fair housing protections).

• When the federal Fair Housing Act covers the home, assess disability-related requests separately from ordinary pets. DOJ and HUD explain that an assistance-animal accommodation cannot be conditioned on an extra fee or deposit. Actual animal damage may still be charged consistently with the practice for other residents. A request may be oral and need not use legal terminology; evaluate the actual disability-related need and applicable coverage rather than promising automatic approval (DOJ/HUD: accommodation guidance, questions 6, 7, 11 and 12).
• Request only information needed to assess the accommodation. The joint guidance says not to seek additional disability information when both the disability and related need are obvious or known. When clarification is appropriate, limit it to the necessary disability-related need, keep it confidential and avoid demanding a general medical history. This is a separate accommodation review, not an ordinary application qualification question (DOJ/HUD: accommodation guidance, questions 16-18).