Georgia Residential Lease Requirements: What Must Be Included

Georgia rental agreements sit inside Georgia’s landlord-tenant law, which sets the duties, deposit rules, and eviction procedures that apply behind every lease. This article covers what that law actually requires a residential lease to include: the difference between terms the parties negotiate freely and the handful of provisions and disclosures Georgia and federal law make mandatory.

What Georgia law requires a lease to contain

Georgia has no statute listing clauses that every residential lease must include. Chapter 7 of Title 44 of the Georgia Code regulates the landlord-tenant relationship, but it leaves the content of the agreement itself largely to the parties. A lease can be short or long, printed or handwritten, as long as it reflects what the landlord and tenant agreed to.

What the law does control falls into three groups: when the agreement has to be written down at all, a small set of disclosures the landlord must make, and a list of rights the lease cannot take away from the tenant. The rest, from pet policies and late fees to parking and who cuts the grass, is a matter of contract.

Because the terms are negotiable, the written lease is where the specific numbers live: the rent amount, the due date, the length of the term, and the security deposit. Georgia supplies default rules that apply when a lease is silent, but a clear written agreement is what a court looks to first if a dispute arises.

When a Georgia lease must be in writing

A residential tenancy of one year or less can be created orally. Under O.C.G.A. § 44-7-2(a), a contract creating the landlord-tenant relationship for any time not exceeding one year “may be by parol,” which means a spoken month-to-month or one-year arrangement is legally valid in Georgia.

A lease for more than one year is different. Georgia’s statute of frauds, O.C.G.A. § 13-5-30, requires any agreement that cannot be performed within one year, and any contract concerning an interest in land, to be in writing and signed by the party being held to it. A two-year lease that exists only as a spoken promise is not enforceable for its full term.

Terms a Georgia lease should identify

Because Georgia leaves lease content to the parties, a usable residential lease generally identifies a consistent set of items even though no single statute commands them:

• The full legal names of the landlord (or management company) and every adult tenant
• The address and any unit number of the rental property
• The rent amount, when it is due, and where or how it is paid
• The length of the term, or a statement that the tenancy runs month to month
• The security deposit amount and the conditions for its return
• Any late fees, pet fees, or utility responsibilities the parties agreed to

None of these is dictated by a Georgia statute, but each is a term a court would need to see to enforce the agreement as written. Vague or missing terms are generally read against the party who drafted the lease, which in most cases is the landlord.

Disclosures Georgia and federal law require

Two disclosures are mandatory before a Georgia residential lease is signed, and a third applies whenever a security deposit is collected.

Flooding. Under O.C.G.A. § 44-7-20, a landlord must tell a prospective tenant in writing, before they enter a written lease, if flooding has damaged the living space at least three times during the five years before the lease date. A landlord who fails to give this notice is liable in tort for flood damage to the tenant’s personal property during the term.

Lead-based paint. For most housing built before 1978, the federal Lead-Based Paint Disclosure Rule requires the landlord to disclose known lead-based paint and hazards, give the tenant the EPA’s “Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home” pamphlet, and attach a lead warning statement to the lease before signing. The rule does not apply to housing built after 1977 or to leases of 100 days or less, and the landlord must keep the signed disclosure for three years.

Move-in condition list. When a landlord collects a security deposit, O.C.G.A. § 44-7-33(a) requires the tenant to be given a comprehensive list of existing damage before handing over the deposit. The tenant can inspect the unit to check the list’s accuracy, and both sides sign it.

Security deposit terms and the move-in inspection list

Georgia regulates how deposits are handled even though it sets no cap on the amount. The move-in list under § 44-7-33 is the tenant’s permanent record of the unit’s condition at the start of the tenancy, and it limits what the landlord can later charge against the deposit.

1. Get the list of existing damage before paying

   Before tendering the deposit, the tenant is entitled to a written list of any existing damage to the unit, and that list is the tenant’s to keep. O.C.G.A. § 44-7-33(a) also gives the tenant the right to inspect the premises to confirm the list is accurate before taking occupancy.

2. Sign the list or note disagreements in writing

   The landlord and tenant both sign the list, which then serves as conclusive evidence of the unit’s condition, except for hidden defects. A tenant who disagrees with an item states the dissent specifically in writing and signs that statement.

3. Expect a move-out inspection and a 30-day return

   After the tenancy ends, the landlord inspects and compiles a damage list within three business days. Under O.C.G.A. § 44-7-34, the landlord must return the deposit within 30 days, keeping only amounts supported by a written statement of the reasons; ordinary wear and tear cannot be deducted.

Georgia also requires most landlords to hold deposits in a trust or escrow account, or to post a surety bond, rather than mixing the money with their own funds. The written lease is where the deposit amount and the return conditions are recorded.

Lease provisions Georgia courts will not enforce

A lease can say almost anything, but some clauses are void even after the tenant signs. O.C.G.A. § 44-7-2(b) states that neither party may waive the landlord’s repair duties, the security-deposit rules, or the tenant’s protections in a dispossessory (eviction) proceeding, whatever the lease provides.

The repair duty comes from O.C.G.A. § 44-7-13, which requires the landlord to keep the premises in repair. Under a 2024 amendment effective July 1, 2024, every residential lease entered or renewed on or after that date is deemed to include a provision that the premises is fit for human habitation, a term the lease cannot contract around.

Two other limits often surprise the parties. A clause making the tenant pay the landlord’s attorney’s fees is void under O.C.G.A. § 44-7-2(c) unless it also makes the landlord pay the tenant’s fees when the landlord breaches. And a lease cannot let a landlord bypass the courts: removing a tenant requires a proper dispossessory case, which begins with the written Georgia eviction notice and demand for possession a landlord serves before filing. A “self-help” eviction clause does not override that requirement, and neither an unwritten claim of long occupancy nor a squatter’s presence changes it; removing an occupant, including a claim of adverse possession by a squatter, still runs through the courts.