HB 708: Renters' Bill of Rights Act; enact

Under current Georgia law, landlords are responsible for certain repairs, but tenants have limited options if a landlord ignores a repair request, and tenants facing eviction (called dispossessory) proceedings have only seven days to respond or pay overdue rent. House Bill 708, called the Renters' Bill of Rights Act, changes both of these. If a landlord does not adequately respond to a repair request within five days, the tenant could hire a licensed professional (either one named in the lease or any licensed professional) to make the repair and then deduct the cost from rent, capped at 50 percent of a single month's rent, with any leftover cost spread across future months. The bill also extends from seven to 14 days the time tenants get to answer an eviction summons, to pay overdue rent as a defense, and before a writ of possession (the court order letting a landlord retake the property) takes effect. These changes would apply to leases entered into or renewed on or after July 1, 2025.

• Lets a tenant hire a licensed professional to make a repair the landlord fails to adequately address within five days, when that repair is the landlord's legal responsibility.
• Allows the tenant to deduct repair costs from rent, capped at 50 percent of a single rental installment, with receipts required to qualify.
• Lets leftover repair costs beyond that cap be deducted from later rent payments, still capped at 50 percent per installment.
• Extends the deadline for a tenant to answer an eviction (dispossessory) summons from seven days to 14 days.
• Extends from seven to 14 days the window for a tenant to pay owed rent and dispossessory costs as a full defense against eviction.
• Extends from seven to 14 days the waiting period before a court's writ of possession takes effect after a judgment against the tenant.

Residential tenants and landlords across Georgia are directly affected, along with licensed repair professionals who may be hired under the new repair-deduction process. Courts handling dispossessory (eviction) cases would also apply the new, longer response and enforcement timelines.

Tenants dealing with slow repairs would gain a concrete way to get problems fixed without waiting indefinitely on a landlord, though repair costs come out of their own pocket first. Tenants facing eviction would get roughly double the time to respond, pay owed rent, or prepare before losing possession of the unit.

• Section 1 names the bill the 'Renters' Bill of Rights Act.'
• Section 2 adds a new subsection to O.C.G.A. § 44-7-13 letting tenants complete needed repairs through a licensed professional and deduct costs from rent, capped at 50 percent per installment, with receipts required.
• Section 3 amends O.C.G.A. § 44-7-51 to extend the deadline to answer a dispossessory summons from 7 to 14 days.
• Section 4 amends O.C.G.A. § 44-7-52 to extend from 7 to 14 days the period a tenant has to tender full payment as a complete defense to an eviction action.
• Section 5 amends O.C.G.A. § 44-7-55 to extend from 7 to 14 days the delay before a writ of possession takes effect after judgment against the tenant.
• Section 6 makes the Act apply to residential leases entered into or renewed on or after July 1, 2025.

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

• Solomon Adesanya (D, HD-43)Primary sponsor
• Terry Cummings (D, HD-39)
• Marvin Lim (D, HD-98)

• renters' rights
• landlord tenant law
• eviction process
• rental repairs
• housing law