Georgia rent increase law

For a tenancy at will, the Georgia Department of Community Affairs handbook says to give 60 days’ notice before increasing rent; the new tenancy at the higher amount begins after that notice period. The Attorney General’s Consumer Ed guidance gives the same explanation for a monthly tenancy after a lease expires. Check a fixed-term lease’s agreed rent and renewal terms separately. A change may not unlawfully retaliate or discriminate.

Georgia DCA handbook: changes to lease terms, page 13 Georgia Attorney General: rent-increase notice

• Raising rent within three months after a tenant's protected action is one element of a retaliation case. O.C.G.A. § 44-7-24(c)(4) See Retaliation on the Georgia page
• Counties and cities may not regulate the amount of rent charged for private residential rentals. O.C.G.A. § 44-7-19 (Ga. L. 1984, p. 1079), General Assembly site See Rent control and local rules on the Georgia page
• The handbook says rent may increase during a lease only if the lease allows it, and that the agreed terms control whether and how often it can change. A sale of the rental generally leaves the new owner subject to existing leases. Keep the dated notice, effective date and delivery evidence; verify the permitted delivery process rather than assuming a posted letter, portal alert or email is sufficient. Georgia DCA handbook: lease changes, pages 13 to 15

No county or city may enact, keep or enforce an ordinance that regulates the amount of rent for privately owned single-family or multiple-unit residential rentals. This does not stop a local government or its housing authority from regulating its own property or from making agreements with private owners that set rents.

O.C.G.A. § 44-7-19 (Ga. L. 1984, p. 1079), General Assembly site

A tenant makes a prima-facie case of retaliation by showing a protected action about a life, health, safety or habitability concern, and that within three months you filed a dispossessory action, took away use of the home, cut services, raised the rent or ended the lease, or materially interfered with the tenant's lease rights; the exceptions below and a rebuttable defense can defeat that case. Retaliation is a defense to eviction, and the tenant may recover a civil penalty of one month's rent plus $500, court costs, and attorney's fees where the conduct is wilful, wanton or malicious, less rent and other sums the tenant owes.

O.C.G.A. § 44-7-24

• Protected actions are exercising a right or remedy in good faith, giving a notice to repair, a good-faith complaint to a code agency or public utility about a problem you must fix, and organizing or joining a tenant organization about habitability. O.C.G.A. § 44-7-24(b)
• There is no liability for rent increases under a written escalation clause for utilities, taxes or insurance, building-wide patterns of increases or service cuts, or government program terms, or for an eviction or termination because the tenant is behind on rent, intentionally damaged property or threatened the safety of you, your employees or another tenant, breached the lease by serious misconduct or criminal acts, held over after giving notice to vacate, or held over after you gave notice of termination at the end of the rental term agreed in the written lease. O.C.G.A. § 44-7-24(d)
• An inspection within the prior 12 months certifying that the home meets building and housing codes is a rebuttable defense. O.C.G.A. § 44-7-24(f)