--- title: HB 779. Property; require landlords and managers of apartment buildings or complexes to provide local police and fire departments certain information collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb779 cite_as: HB 779, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb779 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb779.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb779/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71401 date: 2025-03-21 status: introduced corpus_version: bills-2026-08-28 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/hb778.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb780.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 129 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb779.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 779 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: bill status_date: 2025-03-18 last_action: House Second Readers sponsors: - Yasmin Neal - Eric Bell - Demetrius Douglas - Robert Flournoy - Sandra Scott - Rhonda Burnough text_version: Introduced has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB779/2025 upstream_id: 2010602 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - landlord tenant law - apartment safety - police and fire response - rental property regulation --- # HB 779. Property; require landlords and managers of apartment buildings or complexes to provide local police and fire departments certain information ## Text 25 LC 62 0098 House Bill 779 By: Representatives Neal of the 79th, Bell of the 75th, Douglas of the 78 th, Flournoy of the 74th, Scott of the 76th, and others A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Article 1 of Chapter 7 of Title 44 of the Official Cod e of Georgia Annotated,1 relating to landlord and tenant in general, so as to require la ndlords and managers of2 apartment buildings or complexes to provide local police and fi re departments certain3 information; to provide for a penalty; to provide for an effect ive date and applicability; to4 provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:6 SECTION 1.7 Article 1 of Chapter 7 of Title 44 of the Official Code of Geor gia Annotated, relating to8 landlord and tenant in general, is amended by adding a new Code section to read as follows:9 "44-7-14.2.10 (a) The landlord or manager of any apartment building or compl ex shall provide local11 police and fire departments with current and up to date:12 (1) After hours maintenance telephone numbers; and13 (2) After hours management telephone numbers.14 (b) Any landlord or manager found to be in violation of subsection (a) of this Code section15 shall be fined $2,000.00 per violation.16 H. B. 779 - 1 - 25 LC 62 0098 (c) Any landlord or manager found to be in continuing violation of subsection (a) of this17 Code section shall be fined every five days they remain in violation.18 (d) Any landlord or manager who receives a communication from local police and fire19 departments shall respond to such communication within one hour . If the landlord or20 manager does not respond, they shall be fined $5,000.00.21 (e) All fines collected pursuant to this Code section shall be paid into Clayton County22 Public Schools Homeless Education Department."23 SECTION 2.24 This Act shall become effective on July 1, 2025, and shall apply to all violations occurring25 on or after such date.26 SECTION 3.27 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.28 H. B. 779 - 2 - ## 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 779 would require landlords and managers of Georgia apartment buildings to give local police and fire departments after-hours contact numbers, with fines for landlords who don't comply or don't respond quickly. ### Plain-language summary Georgia law currently does not require apartment landlords or managers to share after-hours contact information with local police and fire departments. House Bill 779 would add a new section to the landlord-tenant law (O.C.G.A. ยง 44-7-14.2) requiring landlords or managers of apartment buildings or complexes to keep local police and fire departments updated with current after-hours maintenance and management phone numbers. Landlords who fail to provide this information would face a $2,000 fine per violation, with an additional fine every five days the violation continues. If police or fire departments contact a landlord or manager and get no response within one hour, the landlord or manager would be fined $5,000. All fines collected under this section would go to the Clayton County Public Schools Homeless Education Department. The law would take effect July 1, 2025, and apply to violations occurring on or after that date. ### What it does - Requires landlords or managers of apartment buildings or complexes to give local police and fire departments current after-hours maintenance and management phone numbers. - Sets a $2,000 fine per violation for landlords or managers who fail to provide this contact information. - Adds a recurring fine every five days a landlord or manager remains in violation of the requirement. - Requires landlords or managers to respond to a police or fire department communication within one hour or face a $5,000 fine. - Directs all fines collected under this new law to be paid to the Clayton County Public Schools Homeless Education Department. ### Who it affects Landlords and property managers of apartment buildings and complexes across Georgia, along with local police and fire departments who would receive the contact information, and indirectly Clayton County Public Schools, which would receive any fines collected. ### Why it matters If passed, apartment landlords and managers would face new legal duties and financial penalties for failing to keep emergency responders able to reach maintenance or management staff quickly, which could affect how fast building issues or emergencies get addressed after hours. ### Key provisions - Section 1 adds new Code section 44-7-14.2 requiring landlords or managers to give local police and fire departments current after-hours maintenance and management phone numbers. - Subsection (b) sets a $2,000 fine per violation for failing to provide the required contact information. - Subsection (c) adds a fine for every five days a landlord or manager continues to be in violation. - Subsection (d) requires landlords or managers to respond to police or fire department communications within one hour or pay a $5,000 fine. - Subsection (e) directs all fines collected under this section to the Clayton County Public Schools Homeless Education Department. - Section 2 sets the effective date as July 1, 2025, applying to violations occurring on or after that date. ## Status - Status: Introduced (2025-03-18) - Last action: House Second Readers (2025-03-21) - Sponsors: Yasmin Neal, Eric Bell, Demetrius Douglas, Robert Flournoy, Sandra Scott, Rhonda Burnough - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71401 > The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb779.md?full=1