Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law Monday a bill providing some standards for people living in neglected rental homes.
Kemp’s signature represents a hard-fought victory for lawmakers, policymakers and housing advocates who pushed for House Bill 404 after it stalled in the Senate in 2023.
The Senate approved the measure towards the end of the legislative session in March. The Georgia House passed it shortly after by 168-1.
HB 404 creates a habitability standard, a three-day grace period so tenants can catch up with their rent before landlords file for eviction, and places limits on security deposits to the equivalent of two months’ rent.
Rep. Kasey Carpenter, a Dalton Republican and lead sponsor, proposed the bill on the back of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s 2022 investigation, “Dangerous Dwellings.” The six-part series exposed dangerous conditions — including rats, mold, raw sewage, roaches and violent crime — at hundreds of Atlanta-area housing complexes.
Carpenter was relieved Kemp had signed the bill into law.
“We’re just glad we got it across the finish line,” Carpenter said. “We always say that we want Georgia to be the best place to live, work and play. I think this is a step in the right direction for a lot of renters out there.”
The bill mandates that rental properties should be “fit for human habitation” without making clear what habitable or uninhabitable means, or what penalties landlords would face if they fail to comply.
Still, Carpenter said before the bill passed that the legislation would help protect renters from landlords and management companies who let their properties fall into disrepair or harass and mistreat tenants.
Georgia has some of the weakest tenant protections in the country, according to housing advocates. They roundly supported the bill, while highlighting some of its shortcomings — some wanted stricter limits on security deposits; others called for a longer grace period before landlords could move to evict tenants.
Atlanta-based lawyer and public policy advocate Elizabeth Appley lobbied for the bill. She said the new law would help Georgians get into safe, stable and affordable housing.
“Georgia is an outlier in failing to provide basic tenant protections, and this is an important step in the right direction.” she said, adding that the “fit for human habitation” standard would give courts the power to enforce the new measure.
“We have real problems with code enforcement in Georgia. But this is going to give courts the authority to act ... To give meaning to that protection,” she said.
Appley added that some of the most vulnerable people are at risk from eviction, including Black women and children.
Next, advocates should push for even greater protections, including a permanent emergency rental assistance program, and transparency and accountability for corporate property owners, the lawyer said.
“This is a particular problem in the metro area where a significant part of our housing that would be accessible to first-time homebuyers is being snapped up by these real estate investment trusts and converted into rental property – without the kind of transparency to hold the landlords accountable for the conditions of the housing,” she said.
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