HB 183: Innkeepers; expand liens to cover property removed from a room upon the termination of a guest's contract

Under current Georgia law, when a guest's rental period at an inn or hotel ends, the innkeeper can remove the guest's belongings from the room but cannot claim a lien over that property. House Bill 183 changes O.C.G.A. § 43-21-3.2 so that any property removed after a guest's contract expires becomes subject to the innkeeper's existing lien rights, and guests can only recover their belongings after paying what they owe for food, lodging, or other accommodations. The bill also adds a formal ejection process. Anyone still on the premises after their occupancy ends, or who never had a valid contract, can be ejected. An innkeeper or their agent can sign a sworn affidavit asking a sheriff, deputy, constable, marshal, or other certified peace officer to remove the person within five days; if that officer cannot act in time, the innkeeper may hire an off-duty officer instead. Finally, the bill says that anyone housed day-to-day or week-to-week is presumed to be a guest under an innkeeper-guest relationship no matter how long they have stayed.

• Extends the innkeeper's lien (a legal claim on property to secure unpaid debts) to cover a guest's belongings removed from a room after the rental period ends.
• Requires a guest to pay all amounts owed for lodging, food, or other accommodations before recovering property removed by the innkeeper.
• Creates a formal ejection process letting sheriffs, deputies, constables, marshals, or other certified peace officers remove a person from an inn within five days of receiving a sworn affidavit from the innkeeper.
• Allows innkeepers to hire an off-duty certified peace officer to carry out the ejection if the on-duty officer cannot do so in time.
• Establishes that anyone housed on a day-to-day or week-to-week basis is presumed to be an inn guest, regardless of how long they have stayed.

Hotel, motel, and inn owners and operators; guests and long-term occupants of such lodging; and sheriffs, deputies, constables, marshals, and other certified peace officers who would be called on to carry out evictions from these properties.

Guests who overstay or fall behind on payment could have their belongings held under a lien until they pay what they owe, and could face a faster, law-enforcement-backed removal process. Innkeepers gain clearer legal tools to secure payment and clear out non-paying occupants.

• Section 1 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 43-21-3.2 to apply the innkeeper's lien under O.C.G.A. § 43-21-5 to property removed after a guest's contract period ends.
• New subsection (b)(1) makes anyone remaining after their occupancy ends, or without a valid contract, subject to ejection from the inn.
• New subsection (b)(2) requires a sheriff, deputy, constable, marshal, or certified peace officer to eject the person within five days of receiving a sworn affidavit from the innkeeper.
• New subsection (b)(3) allows the innkeeper to use an off-duty certified peace officer if the assigned officer cannot complete the ejection in time.
• New subsection (c) creates a presumption that a day-to-day or week-to-week lodging arrangement is an innkeeper-guest relationship regardless of length of stay.
• Section 2 repeals conflicting laws.

1. 2025-02-03House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-01-30House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-01-29House Hopper (House)

• Devan Seabaugh (R, HD-034)Primary sponsor
• Trey Kelley (R, HD-016)
• Matt Reeves (R, HD-099)
• Chuck Efstration (R, HD-104)
• Clint Crowe (R, HD-118)
• Deborah Silcox (R, HD-053)

• innkeeper liens
• hotel and motel law
• tenant eviction
• property law
• law enforcement