--- title: HB 299. Property; landlord and tenant; repeal Code Section 44-7-19, relating to restrictions on rent regulation by local governments collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb299 cite_as: HB 299, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb299 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb299.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb299/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69973 date: 2025-02-10 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. up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb298.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb300.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 129 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb299.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 299 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: bill status_date: 2025-02-05 last_action: House Second Readers sponsors: - Rhonda Taylor - Spencer Frye - Viola Davis - Sandra Scott - Kim Schofield - Dewey McClain text_version: Introduced has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB299/2025 upstream_id: 1958418 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - rent control - landlord tenant law - local government authority - housing policy --- # HB 299. Property; landlord and tenant; repeal Code Section 44-7-19, relating to restrictions on rent regulation by local governments ## Text House Bill 299 By: Representatives Taylor of the 92nd, Frye of the 122nd, Davis of the 87th, Scott of the 76th, Schofield of the 63rd, and others A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Article 1 of Chapter 7 of Title 44 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, regarding landlord and tenant in general, so as to repeal Code Section 44-7-19, relating to restrictions on rent regulation by local governments; 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 7 of Title 44 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, regarding landlord and tenant in general, is amended by repealing Code Section 44-7-19, relating to restrictions on rent regulation by local governments, and designating said Code section as reserved. 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. A Georgia House bill would repeal the state law that currently bars cities and counties from adopting rent control, opening the door for local governments to regulate rent if they choose. ### Plain-language summary Under current Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 44-7-19), local governments are prohibited from enacting any ordinance or resolution that regulates rental prices on private residential property, effectively banning rent control statewide. This bill would repeal that section entirely, removing the statewide ban. The bill does not create any new rent control program itself. It simply eliminates the existing legal barrier, leaving Code Section 44-7-19 marked as reserved for potential future use. If enacted, individual Georgia cities and counties would then be free to decide on their own whether to pass local rent regulation measures, something they currently cannot legally do. ### What it does - Repeals O.C.G.A. § 44-7-19, the Georgia law that currently prohibits local governments from regulating rent on private residential property. - Designates the repealed section as reserved, meaning the space remains in the code but contains no current law. - Repeals any other existing laws that conflict with this change, per Section 2. - Does not itself impose or authorize any specific rent control ordinance; it only removes the state-level prohibition. ### Who it affects Renters and landlords across Georgia, city councils and county commissions that would gain new authority to consider rent regulation, and real estate and property management businesses operating in local jurisdictions that might act on that authority. ### Why it matters If passed, cities and counties in Georgia could, for the first time in decades, consider adopting rent control or rent stabilization ordinances. Whether any local government would actually do so is not addressed by this bill, but the legal obstacle to doing so would be removed. ### Key provisions - Section 1 repeals Code Section 44-7-19 within Article 1 of Chapter 7 of Title 44, which currently restricts local rent regulation, and marks it as reserved. - Section 2 repeals any other Georgia laws that conflict with this change. ## Status - Status: Introduced (2025-02-05) - Last action: House Second Readers (2025-02-10) - Sponsors: Rhonda Taylor, Spencer Frye, Viola Davis, Sandra Scott, Kim Schofield, Dewey McClain - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69973 > The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb299.md?full=1