A Senate panel on Monday again passed legislation that aims to boost Georgia’s tenant protections.
The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved House Bill 404, which would for the first time require Georgia landlords to provide rentals that are “fit for human habitation.” Georgia is one of only three states lacking such a standard, and housing advocates rallied behind the measure, calling it a meaningful step toward making housing safe and decent for families.
HB 404 does not describe what actions tenants may take if their landlord refuses to make repairs or define what “fit for human habitation” means.
The committee unanimously passed the same bill last year, but it stalled before the legislative session ended.
State Rep. Kasey Carpenter, a Republican from Dalton, introduced HB 404 in response to “Dangerous Dwellings,” an 18-month investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that showed tens of thousands of metro area renters living in perilous conditions while apartment owners flipped the properties for millions more than they purchased them.
Landlords ignored complaints about roaches, mold, rats, raw sewage spills and persistent violent crime, sometimes retaliating against tenants for speaking out, renters said. An AJC analysis based on crime reports, code complaints and other public records identified more than 270 persistently dangerous complexes in Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett counties.
“This addresses some of those issues, but it doesn’t go too far to rock the boat to have unintended consequences,” Carpenter said.
Elizabeth Appley, a lobbyist who represents a group of nonprofits that support healthy housing and families, said while the bill didn’t have all the things she said would better protect Georgia tenants, the organizations she represents supported it.
“This carefully crafted compromise will help to move us forward to keep Georgians safe,” she said.
HB 404 would provide tenants who fail to pay rent a three-day grace period before their landlords may file for eviction in court. It also would cap security deposits at two months’ worth of rent.
The bill now goes to the full Senate for it’s consideration.
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