HB876: HB876 Property; provide residential tenants with the right to complete repairs required by landlord and offset rental installments by the reasonable cost of such repairs under certain circumstances

Under current Georgia law, landlords must keep rental properties in repair and habitable, but tenants have limited options if a landlord ignores needed fixes. This bill amends Georgia's landlord-tenant law (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-13) to define a 'material defect' as anything that violates building, housing, fire, or health codes, or that leaves plumbing, heating and cooling, electrical systems, or required fixtures and appliances not working properly. If a landlord does not fix a material defect within 14 days of written notice, the tenant could hire a licensed professional (one named in the lease or any licensed professional if none was named) to make the repair, then deduct the cost from rent, capped at 50 percent of a rental installment, spreading the cost over multiple months if needed and providing receipts. If the landlord still hasn't fixed the defect after 60 days, the tenant could give 30 days' notice and terminate the lease instead, as long as they haven't already started their own repair. Landlords could not retaliate against tenants who use these rights, and tenants could sue under the same process used for other landlord retaliation claims. The changes would apply to leases entered into, renewed, or extended on or after July 1, 2025.

• Defines 'material defect' to include code violations and broken plumbing, heating/cooling, electrical, or required fixtures and appliances.
• Lets tenants hire a licensed repair professional and deduct the reasonable repair cost from rent if the landlord fails to fix a material defect within 14 days of written notice.
• Caps each rent deduction at 50 percent of that rental installment, letting tenants spread larger repair costs across multiple months' rent.
• Allows tenants to terminate their lease with 30 days' notice if the landlord hasn't fixed a material defect within 60 days of notice, unless the tenant already started their own repair.
• Bars landlords from terminating, refusing to renew, or otherwise retaliating against tenants who use these repair or termination rights.
• Gives tenants a civil right to sue landlords who retaliate, using the same process and remedies available for other landlord retaliation claims.

Residential tenants and their landlords across Georgia are directly affected, along with licensed repair professionals tenants may hire. The bill applies to residential leases entered into, renewed, or extended on or after July 1, 2025.

Tenants facing unresponsive landlords would gain a concrete way to get repairs done and pay for them out of rent, or to walk away from the lease, instead of relying solely on habitability lawsuits. Landlords would face new deadlines and a ban on retaliating against tenants who use these new options.

• Section 1 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 44-7-13 to add a definition of 'material defect' covering code violations and broken plumbing, heating/cooling, electrical, and required fixtures or appliances.
• New subsection (d)(1) lets tenants complete repairs themselves through a licensed professional and deduct the cost from rent if the landlord doesn't act within 14 days of written notice, capping each deduction at 50 percent of a rental installment.
• Tenants repairing shared facilities must notify other affected tenants and minimize inconvenience to them before starting work, under subsection (d)(1).
• New subsection (d)(2) allows lease termination with 30 days' notice if the landlord fails to fix the defect within 60 days, as long as the tenant hasn't already started the repair.
• New subsection (e) prohibits landlords from retaliating against tenants who exercise these rights and lets tenants sue for retaliation using the remedies in O.C.G.A. § 8-3-217.
• Section 2 applies the changes only to residential leases entered into, renewed, or extended on or after July 1, 2025.

1. 2025-04-02House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-03-31House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-03-28House Hopper (House)

• Robert Flournoy (D, HD-074)Primary sponsor
• Robert Dawson (D, HD-065)
• Anissa Jones (D, HD-143)
• Tangie Herring (D, HD-145)
• Spencer Frye (D, HD-122)

• landlord-tenant law
• rental repairs
• tenant rights
• housing habitability
• lease termination