{
    "dataset": "Homzora Georgia Residential Lease Clause Reference 2026",
    "jurisdiction": "State of Georgia",
    "scope": "Provisions governing what a residential lease can and cannot require. Covers the non-waivable duties in O.C.G.A. 44-7-2, the reciprocity requirement on attorney fees, the implied warranty of habitability, subletting, oral leases, and the statewide preemption of rent control.",
    "basis": "Compiled from published statutory text of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, with two entries drawn from published summaries of Georgia case law and identified as such.",
    "why_it_matters": "Georgia gives renters fewer statutory protections than many states, which means the lease itself governs a great deal. Knowing which clauses cannot be enforced regardless of what was signed is the practical counterweight to that.",
    "sources": [
        "Official Code of Georgia Annotated, Title 44, Chapter 7",
        "Published summaries of Georgia judicial decisions on exculpatory clauses"
    ],
    "verified": "2026-09-12",
    "note": "Several provisions apply only to property rented as a dwelling place. A landlord may contract around some of these requirements for property that is not a dwelling, which is why commercial leases differ. This is not legal advice and does not evaluate any particular lease.",
    "license": "CC BY 4.0. Statutory text is a public record; the Homzora compilation and notes are licensed under CC BY 4.0.",
    "methodology": "https://homzora.co/atlanta/atlanta-methodology/",
    "rows": [
        {
            "provision": "O.C.G.A. 44-7-2(b)(1)",
            "subject": "Repair duties cannot be waived",
            "what_it_says": "A landlord or tenant may not waive, assign, transfer or otherwise avoid the rights, duties or remedies in Code Section 44-7-13, relating to the duties of a landlord as to repairs and improvements.",
            "effect": "non-waivable",
            "notes": "A lease clause shifting the repair obligation onto the tenant does not survive this provision. Georgia case law treats such clauses as void as against public policy."
        },
        {
            "provision": "O.C.G.A. 44-7-2(b)(2)",
            "subject": "Failure to repair liability cannot be waived",
            "what_it_says": "The same prohibition applies to Code Section 44-7-14, relating to the liability of a landlord for failure to repair.",
            "effect": "non-waivable",
            "notes": "A landlord cannot contract out of liability for damages arising from failing to keep the premises in repair."
        },
        {
            "provision": "O.C.G.A. 44-7-2(b)(3)",
            "subject": "Housing code duties cannot be waived",
            "what_it_says": "The same prohibition applies to ordinances adopted pursuant to the housing code provisions of the chapter.",
            "effect": "non-waivable",
            "notes": "Local housing code obligations sit outside what a lease can alter."
        },
        {
            "provision": "O.C.G.A. 44-7-2(c)",
            "subject": "Attorney fees must be reciprocal",
            "what_it_says": "A provision requiring the tenant to pay the landlord attorney fees on the tenant breaching the agreement is void unless the provision also requires the landlord to pay the tenant attorney fees on the landlord breaching it.",
            "effect": "void unless mutual",
            "notes": "One of the least known provisions in Georgia landlord tenant law. A one sided attorney fees clause is unenforceable in its entirety rather than merely reduced. Worth checking in any lease before signing."
        },
        {
            "provision": "O.C.G.A. 44-7-13(b)",
            "subject": "Habitability is implied in every lease",
            "what_it_says": "Any contract, lease, license or similar agreement, oral or written, for the use or rental of real property as a dwelling place is deemed to include a provision that the premises is fit for human habitation.",
            "effect": "implied by statute",
            "notes": "Added by House Bill 404 effective 1 July 2024. Combined with 44-7-2(b)(1) this cannot be disclaimed by lease language."
        },
        {
            "provision": "O.C.G.A. 44-7-1",
            "subject": "Subletting requires landlord consent",
            "what_it_says": "A lease of real estate for less than five years passes only a usufruct rather than an estate. The tenant can neither sublet the premises, convey the usufructuary interest, nor assign the lease without the landlord consent.",
            "effect": "landlord consent required",
            "notes": "This is the default position in Georgia regardless of what the lease says about subletting, for terms under five years. A lease of five years or more conveys an estate and the position differs."
        },
        {
            "provision": "O.C.G.A. 44-7-2(a)",
            "subject": "Oral leases are valid up to one year",
            "what_it_says": "Contracts creating the relationship of landlord and tenant for any time not exceeding one year may be by parol.",
            "effect": "one year",
            "notes": "An oral agreement for a year or less is enforceable in Georgia. A term of one year or longer generally requires writing to be enforceable."
        },
        {
            "provision": "O.C.G.A. 44-7-19",
            "subject": "Rent control is preempted statewide",
            "what_it_says": "No county or municipal corporation may enact, maintain or enforce any ordinance or resolution which would regulate in any way the amount of rent charged for privately owned residential rental property.",
            "effect": "preempted",
            "notes": "This is why no Georgia city has rent control. It is prohibited at state level rather than simply absent."
        },
        {
            "provision": "case law",
            "subject": "Exculpatory clauses in residential leases",
            "what_it_says": "Georgia courts have held exculpatory and indemnity provisions purporting to release a landlord from all damages to person and property void as against public policy. A provision requiring a tenant to insure against the landlord own negligence, combined with a bar on the tenant recovering in negligence, has been treated the same way.",
            "effect": "void",
            "notes": "Case law rather than statute. A landlord may contract around several of these requirements when renting property that is not a dwelling place, which is why commercial leases differ."
        },
        {
            "provision": "O.C.G.A. 44-7-33",
            "subject": "The deposit checklist waiver is not curable",
            "what_it_says": "Where a landlord subject to the formal deposit rules fails to provide the written list of existing damage before accepting the deposit, the right to retain any portion of it is forfeited. Providing the list afterwards does not restore that right.",
            "effect": "not curable",
            "notes": "The forfeiture covers all deductions, including unpaid rent that might otherwise have been recoverable from the deposit."
        }
    ]
}