HB725: HB725 Property; certain rental agreements; provide landlord duties

Current Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-13) already requires landlords to keep rental premises in repair, but it does not list detailed conditions the housing must meet. HB 725 rewrites that section to spell out a specific set of habitability standards landlords must maintain. The bill requires rental housing to be structurally sound, accessible, free of contamination in water and air, adequately heated, cooled, lit, and ventilated, and equipped with working smoke detectors in units and common areas. It also requires sanitary facilities, food preparation space, and secure living space for each resident. The bill does not add a new enforcement mechanism or effective date beyond the standard process, and it repeals any conflicting laws.

• Rewrites subsection (a) of the landlord repair law (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-13) to list 12 specific conditions rental housing must meet.
• Requires structures to be structurally sound and free of hazards that threaten occupants' health and safety.
• Requires working water supply, sanitary facilities, heating and cooling, and adequate lighting and ventilation in rental units.
• Requires at least one smoke detector on each occupied level of a unit, plus alarms designed for hearing impaired residents where applicable.
• Requires smoke detectors in shared spaces like laundry rooms, hallways, stairwells, and day-care centers.
• Repeals any existing state laws that conflict with these new landlord duties.

Landlords who rent residential property in Georgia would face new specific maintenance duties, while tenants and other residents of rental housing would gain more detailed legal standards covering safety, sanitation, utilities, and fire protection in their homes.

If enacted, tenants would have clearer legal standards to point to if their rental unit lacks working smoke detectors, clean water, adequate heat, or safe structural conditions. Landlords would need to confirm their properties meet each listed requirement to comply with the law.

• Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 44-7-13(a) to require rental structures be structurally sound and pose no health or safety threat to occupants.
• Requires alternate means of egress in case of fire and access without unauthorized use of others' private property.
• Requires adequate personal space, sleeping accommodations, ventilation, and air free of harmful pollutants for each resident.
• Requires a contamination-free water supply and sufficient, private, sanitary facilities for waste disposal and cleanliness.
• Requires adequate heating, cooling, lighting, and safe electrical capacity for essential appliances.
• Requires sanitary food preparation space and equipment, and overall sanitary maintenance of the housing and its equipment.
• Requires working smoke detectors on each occupied level of a unit, with special alarms for hearing impaired residents, and in shared public areas.
• Section 2 repeals any state laws that conflict with the new requirements.

1. 2025-03-10House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-03-06House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-03-04House Hopper (House)

• Terry Cummings (D, HD-039)Primary sponsor
• Spencer Frye (D, HD-122)
• Dale Washburn (R, HD-144)
• David Wilkerson (D, HD-038)
• Michael Smith (D, HD-041)
• Dexter Sharper (D, HD-177)

• landlord tenant law
• rental housing standards
• smoke detectors
• housing safety
• property law