---
title: HB 183. Innkeepers; expand liens to cover property removed from a room upon the termination of a guest's contract
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb183
cite_as: HB 183, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb183
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb183.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb183/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69662
date: 2025-02-03
status: introduced
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 129
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb183.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 183
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2025-01-29
last_action: House Second Readers
sponsors:
- Devan Seabaugh
- Trey Kelley
- Matt Reeves
- Chuck Efstration
- Clint Crowe
- Deborah Silcox
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB183/2025
upstream_id: 1947664
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- innkeeper liens
- hotel and motel law
- tenant eviction
- property law
- law enforcement
---
# HB 183. Innkeepers; expand liens to cover property removed from a room upon the termination of a guest's contract
## Text
House Bill 183
By: Representatives Seabaugh of the 34th, Kelley of the 16th, Reeves of the 99th, Efstration
of the 104th, Crowe of the 118th, and others
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Article 1 of Chapter 21 of Title 43 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,
relating to rights, duties, and liabilities of innkeepers, so as to expand an innkeeper's liens to
cover property removed from a room by an innkeeper upon the termination of a guest's
contract; to provide procedures for innkeepers to eject persons under certain circumstances
from inns; to provide for sheriffs, constables, marshals, and other certified peace officers to
eject persons from such facilities under certain circumstances; to provide for the presumption
of an innkeeper-guest relationship; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws;
and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Article 1 of Chapter 21 of Title 43 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
rights, duties, and liabilities of innkeepers, is amended by revising Code Section 43-21-3.2,
relating to written statement of period of occupancy signed by guest, rights of innkeeper and
guest under contract, as follows:
"43-21-3.2.
(a) A written statement prominently setting forth in bold type the time period during which
a guest may occupy an assigned room, when separately signed or initialed by the guest, is
a valid nonassignable contract. At the expiration of such time period, the guest may be
restrained from entering such room and any property of the guest shall be subject to the
innkeeper's lien as provided for in Code Section 43-21-5 and may be removed by the
innkeeper to a secure place where the guest may recover his or her property upon payment
by such guest of all sums due for food, lodging, or other accommodation without liability
to the innkeeper, except for damages to or loss of such property attributable to its removal.
If a guest vacates his or her room prior to the date contained in the written statement, that
such guest shall not be liable for charges for the time after the room is vacated unless the
guest has agreed otherwise before occupying the room.
(b)(1) Any person on the premises at or after the expiration of the time period provided
for in subsection (a) of this Code section, whose occupancy has been terminated under
Code Section 43-21-3.1, or who does not have a valid contract with the innkeeper shall
be subject to ejection from such premises.
(2) When the innkeeper, its agent, or its attorney in fact, shall subscribe an affidavit, in
writing, before any officer authorized to administer an oath setting forth that such
innkeeper, its agent, or its attorney in fact claims, in good faith, that the occupancy of a
guest has expired or otherwise terminated or the person does not have a valid contract and
refuses to vacate the premises, it shall be the duty of the sheriff, sheriff deputy, constable,
marshal, or other individual certified by the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and
Training Council of the county where the inn is located, upon receiving such affidavit,
to eject such person within five days of receiving such affidavit.
(3) In the event that a sheriff, sheriff deputy, constable, marshal, or other individual
certified by the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council of the county
where the inn is located is unable to effect such ejection within the time provided in
paragraph (2) of this subsection, the innkeeper shall be entitled to utilize the services of
an off-duty sheriff, sheriff deputy, constable, marshal, or other individual certified by the
Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council to eject such person.
(c) When an innkeeper furnishes accommodations to a guest on a day-to-day or
week-to-week basis, an innkeeper-guest relationship shall be presumed to exist regardless
of such guest's length of stay at such inn."
SECTION 2.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.
## Summaries written by Georgia Commons
The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.
House Bill 183 would let Georgia innkeepers place a lien on a guest's property removed from a room after their stay ends, and would let sheriffs and other officers eject overstaying guests within five days.
### Plain-language summary
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.
### What it does
- 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.
### Who it affects
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.
### Why it matters
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.
### Key provisions
- 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.
## Status
- Status: Introduced (2025-01-29)
- Last action: House Second Readers (2025-02-03)
- Sponsors: Devan Seabaugh, Trey Kelley, Matt Reeves, Chuck Efstration, Clint Crowe, Deborah Silcox
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69662
> The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb183.md?full=1